Dark and relentless
by GhostInThePhoto
Summary: Klaus attempts to corrupt Caroline after saving her from being tortured by Alaric.
1. Blood Lemonade

He never really pondered about it, but there certainly was a truth to making lemonade if an eternal life hands you lemons.

He had a plan. Take his precious Doppelganger, leave Mystic Falls and create an army of hybrids, while never thinking about that impossible girl anymore. He had decided on thefirst three weeks ago and on the latter after having received yet another rejection at that blasted decade dance. If Caroline Forbes feels the need to insist on leading a less than mediocre existence in the beyond-boring town of Mystic Falls, wasting her charms on a little pup, so be it. He had craved to show her, what the world, life, eternity and the darkness inside of her could really offer, she had declined and as much as it bothered him, he could live without her. There just had to be someone or something better and more alluring out there than a bunch of golden curls, ice-blue ice and a divine smile mixed with a sparkling personality that literally combined the fragility of glass with the strength and stubbornness of an earthquake. Not to mention this annoying yet intriguing human approach to being a vampire. Truth be told, he was certain he would have made an attempt for her again. Eventually, after a year or two. That girl need guidance, someone had to teach her how to be a vampire, after what those Salvatores did to her. And who better than a 1,000 year old vampire to teach her how to embrace the dark and indulge in the glory of eternity without any restraints? He had already smirked at the thought. Sooner or later, as time was not really a matter given the situation, he would have gotten her to crave his knowledge and experience. She was misguided, not stupid. Deep down, she must know that there is more out there than her pathetic friends and Mystic Falls could ever offer her. And he was ready to bide his time, which meant until then he could enjoy his new army and cause some true havoc, maybe paint a few cities in blood. All he needed for now was that Doppelganger. And they had already been on their merry way.

But then the call came. He should have snatched Elena's phone the minute they had gotten into the car, but well… he hadn't. Apparently that psycho-teacher had somehow managed to not only gain supernatural strength courtesy to his mother Esther, but also he had taken Caroline and was busy torturing her. The Doppelganger just insisted, not knowing that Klaus was counting on seeing that girl again, in some distant future and, thus, would have turned around anyway.

Well, that change of plans certainly had its benefits. In the midst of all the havoc, his mother finally found her demise while the final white oak stake got destroyed. On the down side, the those annoying Salvatores had managed to take his Doppelganger, but that situation could be remedied sooner or later. Instead, he found himself with an unconscious and badly injured Caroline. That was pretty much when game really began….

His first instinct was to get her to his Mansion and usher her into safety. He checked her wounds and worriedly noted that although she would be okay, her healing abilities were slowed down due to an obvious lack of feeding. As she lay on his bed, quietly sleeping and only occasionally stirring with flashbacks of her passed ordeal, he could not help but gaze at her beauty and he peacefulness. Vampires always looked alluring, sensual and powerful, but he could not recall having ever met one that was at ease enough with him- or herself to look truly peaceful. She just was so bright, and the blond curls only highlighted that effect. He fancied that about her, however… if he was sincere to himself, he also had the urge to darken that. Not take it away, just darken it enough. She was beautiful, she was strong… but with his help she could be glorious, wild and divine. Caroline Forbes fulfilled all the requirements a true ripper – much like Stefan Salvatore only more magnificent – needed. She was determined, creative, lusting for adventure and she possessed an intuition that if properly directed could help her detect any person's worst fears and explore them. She could be his equal. And he knew that. … Plus, he had literally nothing to distract him from her now that he was back to waiting for an opportunity to snatch his Doppelganger. He might as well focus on his new "project".

He walked up to her, and gently stroked her cheeks. So beautiful, he thought. _Mine_ he said. Caroline would be nothing like Stefan. She would stay. He'd be thorough in breaking through her stubbornness, he'd be careful to not completely shatter her and he'd be relentless, until he had here where he needed her to be: ripping through necks, painting the world in blood and reveling in the darkness that would surround them both. He planted a kiss on her forehead and left the room to make preparations.

…..

When Caroline awoke, everything she felt was hurt, not as strong as when she was alone with Ric in that class room, but she could still feel the aftermath of it all. Her throat felt still a tad sore, her head hurt but the raw feeling in her hands was probably the worst. That was when she first felt the shackle on her wrists, when she first noticed her arms being suspended left and right above her head. Then it call started coming back to her: Getting caught by ric… the pencils in her hand… suddenly Klaus flashing in front of her, taking out each pencil carefully, his soothing words… then her world had gone black.

She looked up and took in her surroundings. She was in an unfamiliar room, a bedroom, with a big four-poster bed to her right. From the incoming sunlight and with slight turn of her neck she could tell that there was a huge window a couple of feet behind her. From the style of the room, with lots of art and tasteful wood furniture she could tell that it was no coincidence. _She was in Klaus room!_ Panic hit her and she briefly attempted to struggle against her restraints. The chains were hanging from the ceiling, just high enough for her feet to not really touch the ground, except when she tilted her toes. But all attempts quickly proved futile. So instead she tried to return to normal breathing, she needed to think. Only, she lacked information. How long had see been there? Why was she here? What was Klaus up to? All she could do is wait and watch the door.

He had sensed her waking up, and he had been patiently waiting in the hallway, listening to her trying to get rid of the chains, chuckling to himself. Klaus had made sure that the chains would last, he would not take the chance of his little bird flying away right under his nose now, would he? He waited as she slowed down her breath and he tried to imagine her thoughts. How long would it take her to – at least temporarily – stop looking for a way out? When her breath sounded sort of calmed, he slowly got up. Time for the first round.

"Good morning, love" he said with a huge smirk when he entered.

"Klaus. …Let me go." she hissed, knowing that there was no point asking any questions with him. He would not answer anyway.

"…Or else…?" he mocked, perfectly aware that she had nothing to bargain with.

"Let me go, you can't just keep me here.", she tried hard to maintain her calm, as she was pretty sure the second he saw her panicking he had the upper hand.

"But, sweetheart, I can. It was rather easy taking you, and given the circumstances, I am pretty sure keeping you will not be such a challenge either". He flashed in front of her and tucked a stray of hair behind her ear. "Now, tell me, does your hand still hurt?."

She shuddered at the memory. He smiled. Klaus had briefly considered feeding her some of his blood in order to speed up the healing process, but he needed her on blood withdrawal. I might slow down her healing, and there were still scratches and bruises all over her body, but it would help break her faster. He reached for her cheek, and as he had expected she jerked her head away in defiance. In response, he cupped her chin, with a firm but gentle grip.

"Don't worry, love. I promise you, no one here will stake you with pencils, and you are not going to see that nasty class room for quite some time." He teased her, his mouth moving closer to her jaw.

"What do you want Klaus?" she asked in frustration, trying to get out of his grip.

"Excellent question, but I'm afraid, the answer might be rather complex. But since I lost my Doppelganger while saving you, I'd say a decent pastime until I can retrieve her is pretty high on my agenda, and it seems I may have just found one." He said brushing his mouth against her neck.

"Stop it."

"Stop what, my dear?" he asked innocently.

"This." Again, she tried to get her chin out of his grip.

"Well… how about you make me… "stop this", he countered, tightening his grip.

With a smirk he started to unbutton her jacket.

"What are you doing?", she said slightly panicky.

"Well, since you'll be staying in my room for a little while I think it only fair that I get to improve the view a little" He took his time with the buttons, giving her butterfly kisses on her neck. Her scent filled his mind and it took all his self-control to not get lost in it, or in the silky quality of her neck. As much as he enjoyed it, this was merely a more than welcome side effect, what he really was aiming for was her need for control. This was him sensually spelling out to her that she was nowhere near being in control at the moment and he smiled, knowing what this was doing to her.

"That's infinitely better", he smirked when he was done with the last button. She was wearing a normal, purple tank- top underneath the jacket that did not show too much cleavage, but hugged her curves just the right way. She blushed under his gaze.

Finally he let go of her chin.

"Now, let's see.. what shall we do… " he looked at her playfully and suddenly faked frown. "Oh, dear, how rude of me… what a terrible host I am, you must be starving by now, aren't I right?". He looked her straight in the eyes. She knew that he knew the answer. She hadn't fed before the Alaric incident, and she could feel the craving starting to rise slowly. Plus, she was tired. That only fueled. But she knew that he knew that already. Which means…. Her eyes grew large at the realization. He wanted her to feed on somebody.

Klaus chuckled once again, she figured that one out rather quickly, now, didn't she?

In an amused tone he asked "So.. how about a small bite?".

She swallowed. "I am … not really hungry. Thanks for offering" she replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Okay. Just let me know when you start feeling hungry. If you don't mind, seeing that you are _not really hungry_ … I'll give you some time to settle in and get comfortable. Just call when you need… anything." He softly kissed her forehead and slowly left the room. _If she wants to starve her self for a little while longer, that's alright. She'll come around soon enough_ he thought to himself. He had all the time in the world, so why hurry? With a smile on his lips, he went to his study… he just had to capture her expression when she realized what he was planning on doing to her on paper. He had to capture every second he just spend with her. Caroline Forbes would soon succumb to the dark side, and he could not wait to enjoy the fallout.


	2. Terminal Point of Addiction

Rebekah was tired. Her mother had betrayed her trust, taken over her body and she nearly died in the process of getting freed. Now her brother had taken off with this stupid Doppelganger, and so he had left her, too. She had no idea where Kol and Elijah were, but mostly she had no idea what she was going to do with herself. Those were Rebekah's thoughts upon entering her so-called home.

Then she felt them. Two presences. One, she would recognize from anywhere. It was Nik. So he had not left her. The other, took a little longer to recognize, but quickly enough she knew that apparently Caroline Forbes was here as well. That intrigued her. She sped upstairs calling after her brother. "Nik….?".

As she entered his room she took in the sight of Caroline, chained up in the middle of his room and exhausted beyond believe. "Well, what do we have here? Did my brother bring home a new pet?" she teased.

Caroline looked up at Rebekah, slowly lifting her head, after two days of blood withdrawal that took a lot of energy out of her. "Go. Away". She spat out.

"Well, my my… how impolite. After all, you are in my home, not the other way round?". Rebekah flashed in front of the girl, taking in the obvious withdrawal signs. Her skin had paled unhealthily, she looked tired and even such a small gesture like tilting up her neck was exhausting.

"Let me guess, if my dear brother has not fed you blood, he probably has not kept you on vervain either, right?"

Caroline's eyes grew wide. She was genuinely afraid.

"Don't worry, tell me where Nik is, and I won't compel you .. at least not right now."

"I don't know." Caroline whispered. That was true. After waking up and that brief conversation, he had spent most of the day gone. And he had not returned since. He literally had left here hanging in there for almost two days without making any appearance, for which Caroline was gratefull, but she doubted Rebekah would believe her.

"You mean to tell me that my brother just chained you up in his bedroom and left? Well.. if you insist on being difficult, then I guess I have no other choice, do I?". Rebekah was just toying with the girl, she knew where her brother was. In his study. But she was curious to compel Caroline into telling her all about her brother's mischief with her. If she herself felt bad, why should not Caroline feel bad as well?

"No, please.." but Rebekah had already gripped her neck and her pupils were dilating slowly.

Then the Caroline's phone rang.

Klaus had placed it on the nightstand next to his bed, and it had been constantly ringing or at least beeping with a message and Caroline was pretty sure, Klaus counted on her friends failing attempts at contacting her to add to her growing frustration.

Rebekah went to answer the Phone. "Hello, Elena…" In a split second Klaus sped in, grabbed the phone and heard Elena's voice on the other end of the line. "Where is she, what have you done with Caroline?".

"Well, sweetheart, she is with me of course. As to what I have done to her? So far nothing, as a matter of fact I have been a rather perfect host, or at least I am trying to be… she is being difficult at the moment. You know how she is." He said nonchalantly.

Caroline glared at her.

"Klaus?... What the… I thought we had a deal. Listen I will come with you, and we can leave town, just like you had originally planned. She has nothing to do with this…"

"So your precious Salvatores are actually going to LET you leave… with me? Without a back-up plan like killing or deterring me?". He had sent his hybrids out, he knew that the brothers were not letting Elena out of their sight 24/7."It's alright, we'll take that trip some other time. Those brothers will slip up eventually, but until then, I am pretty sure Caroline here will be delighted to keep me company." Elena started to sob, just a little.

"Wait, let me talk to her… Please."

"No." he simply stated and hung up.

"Hello, love." He said walking up to Caroline, the ever-present smirk stretching across his face. Caroline just glared.

"What is she doing here?" Rebekah asked.

"Well, right now we're hanging out.", he chuckled, gently stroking Caroline's cheek, who as per usual, tried to back away.

"And the blood withdrawal…?" Rebekah inquired.

"I needed some sort of method to put her focus on all the things she has – deep down in her precious little dead heart – in common with me. And with you. Those damn Salvatores really did a bad job in teaching her."

Then she understood. "You want to make her a ripper? .. HER?" Rebekah raised an eyebrow. Caroline Forbes was plenty. Plenty annoying, mostly. And way too pretty. She was a wanna-be-human vampire… not a killing machine .

"Only for a couple of decades… just long enough for to embrace her inner monster. Just enough for her to stop being so… unforgiving about my past. Any more questions, or would you care to leave me to my little project?".

" I am just glad you haven't left yet." She went to the door and turned, with a mean smile. "Have fun, Caroline."

After Klaus heard the door close behind him, he slowly lifted Caroline's chin. "So… how is your little diet plan going for you?" he chuckled.

"Get away from me." She hissed, her voice still hoarse.

"I've already been away from you, but I figured a couple of nights of me sleeping in my study should be enough for you to settle in and adjust. Tonight I really prefer my own bed, in my room."

"You mean… here?"…

"Correct, besides how can you expect me to stay away from you… when you and those hungry eyes of yours are so enticing right now? You must be starving, sweetheart. Tell me, how hungry are you… really?" He inhaled the scent of her hair.

She knew he already knew that answer. Blood or rather the fear of starvation was taking over her brain, has been for almost a day now. She even had imagined biting Rebekah, and now, with Klaus and his warm blood being so freaking close… she could not imagine not biting him. Her gums hurt like hell, her throat was dry. About every five minutes she tried struggling against her restraints, mostly out of frustration and unfulfilled craving. She needed blood, badly, and they both knew it.

It took all of her determination to choke out. "I am not hungry, thank you for asking though."

Klaus let out a sigh, then a smile reappeared on his face "Suit yourself, love. I on the other hand am hungry, so I will go and get myself a snack. See you tonight.".

He planted a quick kiss on her jaw, surprising her with his speed… and left.

3 hours later, he came back. In his company were three girls. Two blondes and one redhead. The blondes had both hazel eyes, and the redhead had blue eyes. She knew he had them compelled when he said " This is Caroline, don't mind her, for the moment she is just part of the interior design." She scowled at that.

She watched Klaus as he sat himself on his bed. The first blond crawled up behind him and slowly gave him a massage, while the other sat on his bed and offered him her neck. He did not immediately bite into it, instead he grabbed the massaging one's arm and gently bit into her vein. "Keep on doing what you were doing, dear, never mind that little scratch.", he purred as the blood kept flowing from her arm, filling the room with its scent. From the corner of his eye, he watched Caroline's reaction. She held in her breath and closed her eyes, trying hard to ignore the aroma that filled the air and what it did to her hunger. "Care for some redhead love?", he asked, pointing at the girl that was leaning against the door, waiting for her turn.

"Sorry, still not hungry" she managed to get out. He smiled at her stubbornness, but they both knew her hunger was painfully obvious.

Klaus proceeded to slowly drain the second blond, while the other was slowly massaging him as well as bleeding to death. He deliberately wanted to waste that one, not drink from her, just waste all her blood; he knew the thought would drive Caroline even further over the edge.

When both of the blondes were dead, he slowly approached the redhead, gently pushed her long hair away from her neck and then he just tore into her.

Caroline's eyes opened at the scream. She took in the sight of Klaus, his shirt all soaked in his masseur's blood and red stains around his mouth. For a second he stopped and flashed himself and his prey right in front of Caroline. The he had it again. He bit into the poor redhead like he – not Caroline – was the one on the brink of starvation, causing her to scream and fight. Caroline cried along with her.

"Stop it, please.". He just grinned at her and continued, dropping the girl only when she was dead.

Then he locked his gaze with hers. It was like a silent stand-off. His eyes taunting her about not being able to win this one, while also begging her to let him help her. It was mixture of victory and genuine care that he could not suppress. As much as he enjoyed his game and as intent as he was on winning it, he missed her smile and he sensed that she not only needed blood badly, but also rather soon. Her eyes on the other hand told him how desperate and terrified she was getting, but also how she was going to fight him. This. He could see how it took all of her self-control and all of her energy to resist her urge for blood, and he slightly admired her for that.

None of them had noticed Rebekah coming in until she said "Wow… and apparently poor little Caroline had none of all that fun." Rebekah smiled. Not because she particularly enjoyed seeing Caroline in distress, although she was slightly amused, but because her brother was not yet gone and the blonde seemingly was going to keep him around for a little while longer. Rebekah was just not ready to loose all of her family yet, so she was thankful for Caroline. Something that distracted Nik from leaving.

Klaus smirked at Caroline and turned to Rebekah. "You are right. Quite the pity, isn't it?".

He hunched down towards the fresh red-headed corpse and pressed his left thumb into her wound until it was soaked in blood. His right hand, he put on Caroline's neck, pulling her even closer towards him. Then, he pressed the blood-covered thumb gently onto her lips.

Caroline shook her head, but his grip on her was stronger. Of course, it was. "Have at it, love" he whispered.

The thirst was stronger this time. She had not had blood in days, but Klaus had made sure that at the moment its scent was everywhere, intoxicating and taunting her. Before she had even comprehended the response of her body, she was licking the blood off his thumb. It only took her a few seconds, but when she was done she stared at him in shock.

"See, doesn't taste that bad after all, does it?". The he crushed his lips onto hers. He couldn't help it. This victorious feeling, the way she had worked on his thumb and the proximity to her, it was all too much: he needed release. At least he needed to taste the blood on her lips. And she kissed him back. He knew that it was probably her body reacting to all that blood on his lips, but he was sure it would take her all night to come to the same conclusion.

Suddenly Caroline bit him. It had taken her a while to process what she was doing, and she felt horrible, because she knew she had played right into his hands by kissing him back, but she was not going down without some sort of fight.

He glared at her, and then chuckled. "Still hungry, right?" Of course, she'd be. "Well, as much fun as that was, I think we'll stop for tonight. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to tell my hybrids to clean up all of this mess, and then I think it's bedtime." He gave her a peck on the cheek, and slowly left the room.

Rebekah just stared at Caroline in disbelieve. Either that girl was getting desperate or was braver than she had thought, because when she saw her brother after that girl's bite, she was sure he would seriously hurt her. She did not realize she was thinking out loud before she heard herself ask "Why don't you just give in? It's just a little blood after all?".

It took Caroline a while to utter a response, she was still too much in her own head, mad and disgusted with herself over that kiss, furious at Klaus and helpless at that growing red thirst in her throat. Her gums were still hurting and her frustration was reaching its boiling point, while her body as getting weaker and weaker due to the denial in nutrition.

"Because it's the right thing to do." She had no wittier response. Not in her current state.

Rebekah quietly shook her head and left.

After having ordered his hybrids to clean the room, Klaus had returned to his study and was already sketching away. He thought this small victory would make him happy, but he was quite sure that the smirk on his face only stemmed from that brief physical contact with her. His patience was starting to lack, so he would have to speed up his game. The sooner she gave up on her silly notion of humanity, the sooner she would grasp him and what he could offer her, and he had a feeling in his guts, that only then the real fun would begin. It seemed the more he made her crave for blood, the more he longed for her. The stakes were rising, not just for her but also for him.

So... I hope you guys like it, I am a little nervous about this chapter. If you do like it, wait for chapter III: Tyler will attempt to save Caroline. And Klaus will take advantage of that. ... :-)


	3. Damnation

It was frustrating. They had had such a promising start, with him on top of the game and her slowly losing herself in her hunger. Only… it seemed that the game was stalled now. At least it has been for the past 4 days. He continued to bring home humans for both of them to feed on, and despite everything – her hunger, her normally healthy sense of self-preservation, her craving – she refused. She always told him politely, yet sarcastic (the degrees varied depending on how strong she felt) that she was not hungry. Then he proceeded to kill them. Some of them seductively, some of them viciously. Just to get a rise out of her. After that he always attempted to go in for the kill, sometimes he would drench his fingers in blood and place them on her lips, just like he did the night of that divine kiss. Other nights he would paint some of the blood on is lips and kiss her, or he would at least paint her lips in blood, expecting her to lick it off herself. Only the trick no longer worked. She refused to kiss him back, she never licked the blood off her lips of his fingers… and he had no idea how she managed that. Somehow Caroline always managed to resist. Like that one-time slip-up was forcing her to make sure it won't repeat itself.

It frustrated Klaus on so many different levels. Firstly, he genuinely wanted a second kiss. A second, reciprocated kiss and he wanted to see her smile, like at his mother's blasted ball. Only, back then he was merely "very, very interested" now he was "desiring" her in a way that he had not anticipated.

Secondly, he hated losing. The game was rather simple, get her to lose it, drive herself over the edge and make her a ripper. But he needed for it to happen without compulsion, only he also needed her to be alive for it, and at the moment her health was dangerously deteriorating. She was getting paler and paler, seemingly inventing new nuances of pale. At night she stirred, because all of her jaw was hurting like hell, and she was scarcely conscious, making it even more difficult for him to seduce her into feeding. Come to think of it, if he did not compel her soon, she would not even be conscious enough anymore to be compelled, which would force him to resort to blood bags. So right now her headstrongness in pursuing this pointless hunger strike was leaving him with not really enjoyable options: Letting her go, compelling her (which meant cheating himself of the joy of watching he give up) or blood-bags, which he resented.

Klaus thought about all of this, while sketching away. Mostly her. His frustration was heightened by her being in his bedroom. It was great… but not as great as it could be. He thought of the first night that he had shared a room with her.

FLASHBACK

His hybrids had cleaned up rather well, they had even replaced the blood stained mattress, he noted after looking around the bedroom approvingly. His eyes quickly fell upon the beautiful woman chained up in the middle of his room. Immediately, the memory of that kiss came back and he approached her with a knowing smirk.

"Bed time… Now, you don't look all that comfortable here. I'll make you a deal. You promise not to run, and I'll let you sleep in a bed tonight." Meaning, next to him of course.

She looked up at him and, after a second of assembling enough strength, she muttered " I prefer sleeping vertically".

"As you wish". With that he walked towards the bathroom, only stopped by her voice.

"It was because of the blood".

He looked at her, confused.

"The kiss. Me … kissing you back. I tasted the blood on you and I could not stop it. I tried to, but I couldn't."

He slowly walked back towards her.

"Maybe so. But I am sure, once I win our little game, you will be in need of a better excuse for anything that might happen." She winced at his way of saying "anything".

"I was starving. I thought I was crazy, I spent the past hour wondering what is wrong with me for kissing you. Honestly, I thought I was going insane. But I am not. I am only starving." He chuckled at that.

"What are you getting at, love?"

" I won't ever let you have me doubt myself. You can and you probably will starve me to death, because right now you do have THAT power over me, yes. But that is all you have. It won't ever happen again."

He growled at her.

"So you can wipe this stupid smirk off your face, because I won't feed on humans, I won't kiss you again and if I am going to die because of that, that might just be okay. At least given the alternatives."

Klaus lunged at her and held her by her throat. "Sweetheart, you do realize you are talking crazy. Sure, you don't want a nightcap. Because seemingly, you just said it was okay for me to starve you to death." How she managed to amuse and enrage him at the same time was beyond him.

"It is not okay, but it is okay for me to decide how I feed, when I feed and everything else for that matter.", she once again tried to get out of his grip. Surprisingly, he let go.

"We shall see" he hissed and went into the bathroom.

He stepped into the shower and let the hot water sooth him, while he pondered her words. _So she really believe she can refuse blood – fresh warm human blood – forever and fight the effects it has on her?_ He smiled to himself, she really was strong-headed. Even when believing the impossible. He'd show her in the morning, he thought.

After leaving the bathroom, he turned off the light, went to bed and said "Sleep tight, sweetheart.", knowing she would not respond. He spent most of the night listening to her breathing rhythm, waiting for her to drift to sleep. After an hour of silence, he whispered. "You know, I could always compel you.".

"I know.", she said calmly into the dark.

Caroline fell asleep an hour after that, and only then did he allow himself to rest as well.

FLASHBACK END.

The problem was: She had kept her promise. No matter how close he got her to blood, how he used every trick in the book to even get her to have a nip, she refused. She was literally fighting her entire body at times, and he had no clue how she managed that, but she did not cave. Neither did she kiss him back or reject to his touches. It frustrated him.

Yesterday night, he had started dreaming of her. Of them dancing at the ball, but her staying afterwards, of her smiling at him but also of her feeding on people. But in reality, he could not get her to even respond to him, and unless he wanted her die right in his bedroom, he was going to have to cheat and compel her, which was exactly the opposite of how he wanted things to be.

"Your toy is broken". He turned around to face Rebekah. "She is not going to last any longer." She said teasingly.

"I am afraid she will have to." But he knew that his sister had a point. Caroline was not going to last any longer without at least a little bit of blood.

"Maybe you should just kill her" Rebekah suggested. As much as she liked having her brother back, he was not really paying attention to her these days. Hadn't been since their horrid conversation concerning Finn's death. Caroline might be keeping him at home at the moment, but maybe a little less of her, would not suck either.

"Not an option". Klaus replied coolly.

"Why?"

"Have you ever seen me give up in the middle of a game?"

"No, but she will die anyway, the way things seem to go at the moment. You can turn any other vampire into a monster… why her?".

"I could turn any vampire. But frankly, I am not ever going to get another vampire like her into my possession."

"What do you mean, another vampire like her?".

"Well… just look at her. … She was turned as collateral damage. As a human she probably was an in-closet OCD case. No vampire in his right mind would turn someone like that."

"Yeah, no one turns someone annoying. Just her luck Katherine was desperate."

"I never thought of it until her… but her need for control… it kept her human. Bubbly. It enables her to be content in a way that I have never seen another vampire be."

Rebekah just sighed and left, not wanting to think about his brothers strange obsession anymore.

Klaus decided to pay his "guest" another visit. But upon seeing her, he knew he had to decide on his next step of action fast. Her skin was so pale it was slowly getting see-through and it had gotten so thin, that the chains had started to scrape it while her healing processes had more or less ceased to exist. She could barely keep her eyes open, it would not be long before compulsion, would no longer be an option. However, he was still hoping he could avoid that as well.

"Hey sweetheart." He said, wrapping his fingers around a stray of her hair. "Care to join me for lunch? I am in the mood for Mexican. Or how about Asian." He taunted.

She weakly attempted to pull her head away, but the answer was clear enough.

"You do realize you are almost dead, right" He glared at her.

Her response was too hushed to be clear. "I am sorry love, I did not quite catch that." He moved his head closer to hers "Told… you …so."

The anger took him faster than he could rationalize. He grabbed her by the neck and finally she opened her eyes to look into his. There was barely any life in her, he noted, but the look she gave him was full of acceptance of what she expected he would be doing now. Little did she know that killing her was not on the option list, at least not on his.

They were interrupted by noise from downstairs.

"Where is she?". Even in her weak state Caroline reacted to the voice faster than Klaus. She quietly mouthed Tyler's name.

Klaus had no idea how Tyler Lockwood managed to get onto his property without being taken out immediately by his other hybrids, but well… despite his anger, he could not suppress a smile. This might just get a little more interesting. Caroline saw the expression in Klaus' face and suddenly felt a wave of fear rising. She tried to shake her head in protest to whatever he might be thinking now, but Klaus just put his finger onto her lips. "Don't worry love, I won't let anyone spoil our fun.", catching a tear sliding down her cheek.

Tyler burst into the room. He stopped in his tracks to take in the sight of Caroline in her weakened state, chained and held onto by Klaus.

"Get away from her", he shouted, the anger boiling up inside of him.

"Now why would I do that?", Klaus asked curiously. Tyler should know well enough that he is no match for him.

"I said GET AWAY…"

"Or.. what?".

The fight was over quicker than even Klaus had thought. Tyler had charged at him, Klaus had grabbed and thrown him into the nearest wall, then grabbed him again and after breaking a few bones and despite Tyler's valiant efforts – the pup did manage to land a few scratches – had him soon enough lying on the floor, all blood and bruises with a horrified Caroline looking upon them.

"So.. love, what do you suggest I should do with our hero? And no, letting him go without a punishment is not an option."

"Don't hurt him, .. please", she cried…barely managing to get the words out due to her lack of energy.

"What did you do to her" Tyle asked, looking at Caroline.

Klaus hunched down keeping a tight grip on him. "You mean what has she been doing to herself?... well, just look at her and tell me what you see." He brought Tyler's head up so he could look at what was left of Caroline. "She needs blood." Tyler let out a growl.

"Indeed, she does. However, you see. Caroline here has been remarkably stubborn. I provide perfectly good, healthy and nutritious meals for her and she refuses. Now I would never force her to eat, but you see… her clock is ticking.".

Tyler's eyes grew wide at Klaus' words. "You tried to make her feed on humans? You fucking…" Tyler let out a scream as Klaus calmly dislocated his right shoulder. "Careful Tyler, no insults.". Tyler fell back to the ground due to the pain.

Caroline observed the scene, trying hard to gather enough energy to scream or to say something. Over the passed days she had not really said much. She needed the energy to focus. On her hunger, on what she needs to do to not give in. Lately it had been mostly her and the hunger inside her head. When Klaus approached her, and taunted and tempted her, she drew all her energy together to resist. She could not even spare any energy in thinking of an escape plan, she had no idea how much longer she could last, but she would not let anything distract her from keeping her control. She would not die a monster. Or so she thought, but now Tyler was there and her concern for his safety, was more than just a distraction, it consumed just as much energy as the grip on her hunger. Klaus had always been unpredictable, but right now Caroline was sure he was capable of doing pretty much anything to Tyler, and she had to find a way to save him. She could not loose him.

All of that showed in her face, and Klaus caught onto that. Looking down at Tyler, he suddenly she saw new option. A way to win their little game that would also enable him to punish Tyler for meddling with the sire bond.

"You know, I might just let you go and get out of here alive." He said to Tyler, with an evil grin on his face.

"In exchange for what?" Tyler knew Klaus had an agenda; that much was obvious.

Klaus got up and walked towards the liquore cabinet that stood on the wall in the space between Tyler and Caroline, and helped himself to a drink. After the first sip, he turned to Tyler and simply said.

"Help me help her."

Tyler looked confusedly first to Caroline, then to Klaus. Caroline's face was worried, Klaus smiled. "I don't…."

"It is rather simple, mate. You see, you can't take her from me and I am more than insisting on her continuing presence here. So she will just have to stay, because you cannot help her. And you know you can't. But she needs blood. Badly, soon and her time is running out. You can see that. However she keeps on refusing and refusing blood."

"Yes, because she is not feeding off humans."

Klaus studied Tyler for a second. "Good news mate, you will leave this place alive. But before that you have to make a choice. Caroline is staying here, that is a given. Now you can either leave her with me alive or sign her death sentence."

"What do you want me to do?" Tyler was at a loss.

"Well… first answer a simple question. Caroline here has informed me that me starving her might actually be _okay_ for her, if it means no feeding of humans. Personally, I have my problems with her view, but tell me honestly… amongst pals… would you be okay with that? Would you permit her to kill herself that way, in order to save random strangers?". Klaus had him there. He knew, after all the trouble and anguish Tyler went through in order to break through the sire bond for Caroline, he would not be okay with her death. The interesting question was how ruthless he'd be in making sure she'd survive.

"No."

"Great, let's drink to that", Klaus responded, handing Tyler a glass with amber liquid. "No remedy the situation".

"What do you mean.?".

Klaus patted Tyler on the back, chuckling at how slowly the wolf was processing all of this. "Drink up and then save her."

"How…?" Tyler would do anything to get Caroline out of this mess, but he did not understand what Klaus was insinuating.

"Well… as she seemingly has objections to feeding off strangers… "Klaus looked at Tyler pointingly.

"You want me to… feed her?"

"Smart boy." Klaus teased. "Unless you just want to leave her for dead…"

Tyler felt trapped. There was no good way out of this. If he just left, she would let herself die, she was almost dead right now, he could tell by glancing at her. But if he forced his blood into her, he'd sell her out to Klaus. There was a reason she had pushed herself this far, and he knew how hard she was working her self-control and her blood-thirst. She had tried to teach him too, right after Klaus had turned him. But still, it was Caroline. His Caroline. He could not let her die. Not like this and… not with him.

Klaus could sense that the boy had reached a decision. "So what will it be?", hoping to get the answer he wanted. Tyler drowned the liquor, and calmly let the glass drop from his hand and crash onto the floor. He did not disappoint Klaus, who suddenly felt a rush of glee come over him.

"I'll do it." He whispered, apologetically looking at Caroline.

Until then Caroline had been quietly but fearfully observing their conversation, trusting in Tyler reaching the right decision. But he didn't. She knew why, she knew how much he loved her, but now he was – albeit not by any real choice – turning on her. He was helping Klaus.

"Tyler, don't." Her throat started to hurt, but she had to get through to him.

"I am sorry, Caroline.", after that he could not look into her eyes anymore, knowing that she would wind up hating him for this, just like Klaus probably had anticipated. Defeated, he bit into his own wrist. "You need blood."

Klaus watched with delight as Tyler slowly walked up to Caroline. In his foolish attempt to take her away from, Tyler had wound up helping Klaus. He was sure that once the boys blood was on her throat, she would no longer be able to control it, and the panic that was in her eyes right now only confirmed that. The fact that Tyler out of all people would be delivering that final blow, at Klaus' behest even after breaking the sire bond, was just the cherry on top of it all.

"Tyler, no, please". She needed a plan, she needed something and she needed it fast. The smell of Tyler's blood came nearer and blurred her mind more and more. She felt an adrenaline rush coming over her, giving her just enough energy to look around herself frantically for a way out of this.

"Don't fret, love, Tyler is only trying to help you out." Klaus cooed from his position, leaning against the door frame. Their eyes met, and for a second he was startled by the amount of hate and disgust she blew at him.

Tyler stood in front of her no, she refused to look at him, tears running down her face.

"Please, look at me".

She refused, and looked at those damned chains instead. If only she could get away, she thought.

"Caroline, please." Tyler and his blood were now inches away from her face, even though she still refused to look at him. But the blood was now almost everywhere in her head. She needed it, she wanted to bite into flesh, she knew she did, and looking up at her chained wrists did not help… it was then, that she knew what she had to do.

Tyler reached to gently draw her face towards him. "Don't touch me", she said in an ice cold voice. Slowly, she turned her face.

"I am so sorry." He said, gathering just enough courage to look into her eyes once more.

"So am I" was all she said.

Then it all happened incomprehensibly fast. She only had oh so little energy left and she used it all for her final move. She kicked up at Tyler, using pushing him away while also effectively using him to propel her body a little higher. At the same time she pulled herself up on her chains.

When Tyler looked up he saw her. Her teeth biting into her left arm as she was slowly draining herself. Suddenly, blood was everywhere.

So far, thank you to everyone who told me to continue this story, I sincerely hope I did not disappoint any of you.


	4. I will try

Hours later, he was patiently waiting for her to wake up, or rather for her to open her eyes and stop pretending that she was still unconscious. The minute her mind had started to come together again, he had sensed it. He was too focused on her to not notice. But he bid his time patiently, letting her remember what had happened, letting her realize that she was still alive, letting her realize she was lying on a bed, and unrestrained. However, he also wanted her to notice just how weak she was at the moment. She had purposely drained herself while being in a state of almost complete blood withdrawal. It would take her at least a day to be strong enough to stand up for ten minutes. Klaus had made sure of that. He had fed her his own blood just enough to save her, but had not given her enough to nurse her back to any strength. Right now, she was even weaker than an average human. Physically, a young vampire like her already was no a match for him, but right now she was even too weak to stir in her nightmares. This also meant that she could not even attempt to remove his arm, which he had draped around her waist, or even try to get up altogether. He waited until that realization had sunken in as well, before speaking. "Bad dreams, love ? ", he asked teasingly, pulling her even closer to his chest. "Please, don't try to struggle right now, I have a feeling it might hurt your body more than you can image."

She opened her eyes to face the windows, feeling her back touch Klaus's chest, and as much as she tried to move, her body would not respond with anything else but a feeling of utter exhaustions. "Your body is not really obeying right now, is it? Can't blame it, after all the bad health decisions you made these past days, it was about time your body made its own decisions." She could hear him chuckle. It took all of her restraint to keep breathing calmly. "You know, I have to admit. I did not see that one coming. You biting your wrist was quite the surprising move. Poor Tyler almost lost his mind.". No need to see her face, by the way her shoulders stiffened he could tell that her eyes were widening in shock at his words. "What happened to Tyler?" He gently, turned her around so that she had to face him, a little too unhappy with how fragile she was, like an easily breakable China-doll. He looked into her eyes, smirking: "Why do you ask? Hungry again ? ". That was all it took for tears to form in her eyes. A smile formed on his lips. _That is the punishment for nearly dying on me, sweetheart._ His memory flashed back to what happened earlier.

He had been in shock for a little too long, giving her enough time to feed, while almost killing herself in the process. It is truly amazing how much blood a starved baby vampire can consume within a few seconds. He only snapped out of it, when he noted the pool of blood forming beneath her. Then he flashed in front of her, easily knocking a stunned Tyler aside and tried to pry her head from her wrist, which only caused her to tear out her own flesh. As much as it was killing her, the taste of blood controlled her. So he snapped her neck.

Then Tyler was on him, but not for long. Klaus grabbed him by the throat and held him up effortlessly. "You want her to live ... then leave. Now. Waste my time further with your antics of heroism and I might not get around to saving her. GET OUT.". That was all to it. Tyler had had no choice, so he ran.

After that, Klaus had moved fast. He unlocked the chains, gently caught her in his arms, bid into his wrist and then just hoped that his blood could still reanimate her. As much as admitting it bothered him but he had been truly scared that she was going to die on him. Not just because he detested losing at his own game, but because of this incomprehensible intuition of his that made him feel like her death would hurt him in some strange way. He needed her to make it.

All of that flashed across his mind, when Caroline, once again, asked about Tyler. Klaus had no intention of telling her that her wolf was okay, he was too enraged by her actions, just as much as he was impressed by them. He figured that she deserved the uncertainty.

"Please, just tell me if he is safe." She asked, quietly.

He gently placed a finger upon her lips, as he moved to trap her body beneath his, placing his free hand onto her throat.

"Sshh …. love. I could tell you, but I would rather not discuss another bloke when I finally have you all to myself, especially when you are wearing one of my shirts, and not very much else."

For a moment, she seemed puzzled by his words, she had not noticed that she was wearing something different then before, but she did. Klaus had instructed Rebekah to change her, after all her own clothes had been soaked with blood, and he was amused by Caroline's shocked expression. He simply enjoyed being so close to her at all.

Mesmerized, he did not immediately notice, how he brought his face closer to her, locking her baby blue eyes with his. For quiet some time they stayed that close, once again wrapped up in a silent dialogue that now consisted of him telling her so many things at once. How she had bewitched him, how he intended on making sure she never ever dared to cross him like that again, how he was curious about her next move. In turn, she told him of her fear, of her exhaustion and of her anger towards him. All of that without any words being spoken.

"What else is on your mind, sweetheart? ", he asked, after an ounce of puzzlement in her gaze.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"The blood How is it possible that I can actually die because of it. Those vampires that founders locked up in that tomb, they were not nearly as far gone as I was, thought they had been down there without blood longer than I was here."

"You mean, you were not deliberately trying to kill you back there? " He crooked an eyebrow.

"I did. After all, I did feel myself dying, but … but it seems like blood has a stronger influence on me than on others and I don't get why." She asked, like asking a question in her math class. You could almost think that she was in a save and sound study environment.

"Oh, dear. Those Salvatores really should not be allowed to mentor baby vampires. The answer is simple. Blood technically cannot kill you. However, there is "being dead" and "being dead". The first means "dead for good without a return ticket". It happens when someone puts a stake through your hard", at that he slowly trailed a finger down her upper body. "Or when the sun burns you to death. However, the other "dead" only happens under circumstances. Like when I daggered my siblings, or when a young baby vampire ,who, let's say, never really took or had the chance to built up some blood strength within her body, because of some ridiculous dietary notion, runs out of blood. The human equivalent would be something like not feeding a newborn properly. Your body needs to build up strength and most importantly some reserves first. If not… well… it is kind of like death, only more on the mummified, eternal-zombie-side. You could be brought back, but you would still be dead until that happens. Your organs slowly deteriorate, you strength dissipates… even your mind will go blank to a certain degree that bringing you back would literally mean condemning you to a life as an undead vegetable. It is "death with a return ticket I am not sure you would want to use". ". He would have never let things go that far, but she did not need that piece of information right now, for at present the look of dread in her eyes was making him feel quite content.

"I am a little surprised you were not asking about another why. ", he stated, moving to her side now and propping his head up on his elbow. "Like why am I here, why are you doing this… " He mused, with a smile while playing with one of her curls.

She slowly glanced to her side. "Like I would be getting any answers."

"Ask me and I will tell you." He replied innocently.

"Okay, why the hell are you doing this? Whatever happened to "perhaps one day…"?"

"Well, not that I would have not waited, believe me I would, but thanks to your ex-teacher, you suddenly were right there. And then I thought, why wait? You and me, we could be so much more fun together." She grimaced at his way of intonating fun. "The problem is not that I killed Elena's aunt or that I sired Tyler, or that I threatened Bonnie. It's timing. Give it a hundred years and you probably, won't even remember knowing Tyler, or at least the death of one human will not be the solely focus of your judgment. I am merely speeding up time."

She let his words sink in first. After a while she said "Do you really think that just because a hundred or so years will pass, that I will forget all the harm you are capable of causing? "

"You might not the way things are right now. Your only flaw, from what I can see, is your almost-clean-as-snow-white slate. The only reason you judge my actions, is because you never learned how … liberating life really can be. Stefan gets it, so does Damon. Both act like they hate me, and they are smart to do so, but neither of them is free of blood on their hands. They killed people, they used them… you do remember what happened when you dated Damon Salvatore, right?". Of course she remembered, she even dreamed about that sometime. Those nightmares kept her from trusting Damon ever again. "You see… Elena at least daggered Rebekah, ask Rebekah and she could tell you quite a horror story of her deeds with Stefan in the 20's, Tyler fed off humans, too I might add. Bonnie nearly killed me, she might have done it for noble causes, but it was a near-kill nonetheless, and I am pretty sure those aneurysm-spells just give her the kick of a life-time. Or take your silly human friend Mat and your mother, back when they plotted to kill you behind your back. Or young Jeremy, decapitating my hybrids and all that jazz… You see, that really only leaves you. You only killed once, and the first feed as a vampire in all honesty does count as an accident. Other than that, you only had a few bites, most of which were in defense of others. Now, I know, a few bites into a human vein won't be enough to balance out my 1000 years of bloodshed, bloodshed for which I still do not feel guilty; I would like to add. But after a century or two of you ripping through bodies and causing a little of your own havoc… you might finally look at me and see what I am willing to offer you. Now, initially I would have waited for you to either come around, and accept me, or for you to snap on your own into the killing machine I am quite sure you are holding back. But … then I was on the road with Elena, got a call that ruined all my plans… and thought, now that you're here anyway… why not make you snap sooner rather than later?"

His words terrified her, he noted. She gazed at him in huge disbelieve, and yet another tear came down her cheek. "So you're saying you need me to kill people because that seems like the most time-economic wooing method you can come up with?".

"You could say that, or you can thank me later for all the glorious things I can and will show you once you let me."

"That is the most selfish thing I have ever heard." Her eyes were full of loathing.

"Maybe so. But it will get me what I want."

"What do you want", she exclaimed. She just wanted one thing, to get this over with.

"You". The way he said it, meant that for now this conversation would be over, he knew perfectly well, that she would be taking all night to process this. Gently, he pulled her back up against his chest, just like when she had woken up. "Sleep tight, sweetheart". He placed his hand on her wrist, exactly onto the spot she had bitten into and slowly rubbed his thumb over it, just to make sure she would not forget what had happened earlier. He knew he had broken some of her resistance, and was quite sure that she would not repeat her earlier stunt very soon – not that he would take any chances, however the knowledge was reassuring. Just like that he pulled her even closer, and whispered the final blow into her ear. "Oh, one more thing. Remember how your father tried to fix you?".

Caroline dreaded to hear the next words. She had let her father go in peace, and Klaus new how important that had been to her. Whatever he was about to say, would destroy that, and she knew it. " I think he got it right, although he also got it backwards. You need to be fixed. He knew it, you know it, I know it. It's just him and you, you got it wrong. He meant to train you to stay off blood, and that is just plain against your nature. You, on the other hand, spent so much time, telling yourself, that the Stefan-Salvatore-diet is all you need to fix yourself… and look where that has gotten you." He could hear her sobbing now, nonetheless, he continued to softly whisper into her ear. " You need it. Or else you won't make it past a decade, and what a shame would that be, my dear? Considering my interest in your well-being, it is quite obvious, you need fixing. And rest assured. Fix you, I will.".

All it took was those last four words. After that she could not fall asleep again.

Okay, this is a tad quieter than the previous chapters... and unlike I thought, I still had no real opportunity to let Caroline say all of this words that I have made up for her in my mind, however I hope you guys still like it and hang on, until the next chapter. Which will feature a Rebekah-Caroline moment as well as a brief encounter with Stefan. Oh.. and Klaus... will definitely try to "fix" Caroline.


	5. To fix you

"You can´t be serious", Rebekah yelled. "Alaric is still out there, and it will only be a matter of time before he gets his hands on a daylight ring ... we should leave. Now. Not paint or waste any time with a goody two shoes cheerleader or the hunt for some annoying doppelganger." They had tought Alaric to have died already, but as it turns out, that day in school, he had only gotten fought off, not killed as apparently everybody involved had been to focused on saving a damsel in distress. Alaric was a threat, and they needed to leave and make sure that he cannot find them. Only Klaus was not agreeing.

"Don´t worry, Bekah. I had the place spelled, so he can´t enter. And we´ll be leaving soon, just as soon as I get my Doppelganger." Klaus commented on his sister´s outburst, only briefly glancing away from his painting.

Rebekah knew he was not honest here while being incredibly stupid at the same time. He did not need his hybrids anymore. He had her, and his family. So Elena Gilbert and whatever offspring she might produce in the future can go to hell. Neither did he need that blonde baby vampire that he had kept chained up in his room for the past week now. They were just unnecessary weight that they should leave behind.

"Let´s not pretend that Caroline has no part in this as well. Listen. You and me... we need to leave. We can get Elena anytime, but you won´t need her, because you have us. You have me. So let´s leave. Elena will be around , so will Caroline, and you can go back to torturing and seducing her when you actually have the time. Chase after her when it is convenient for you, like you used to. Like asking her to the ball, as annoying as it was, there was no harm in it, because at least we had the illusion of safety, we were a family and there was nothing to worry about, so you could cut yourself some slack and have a little fun. Even leaving Kol behind in order to flirt with her happened when you thought yourself safe. Or seeking her out at the decade dance, was fine, because we were going to leave... you were going to leave her behind... so do it now. Let´s leave all of this behind. You can continue this game some time later, if you haven´t found something better to do later..but right now we need to survive."

He pondered over his sister`s words. She had a point, over the past few days the dynamics of the game had changed. Previously, when he used to chase after her, it was out of genuine interest but also out of the want for a pasttime. His father was dead, he briefly thought to have all of his family back and he had the Doppelganger and, thus, a hybrid army, within reach. Why not afford a little sillyness like romance. Why not just let himself fancy her, because frankly, she was just that easy to fancy. After her betrayal that had nearly cost him his siblings he had left her alone, he had not needed her around that much. As for the decade dance, he had only approached her, because he had accepted that this chapter was temporarily closed, though he had been sure that he would eventually meet her again and then he would have focused on making her his. At a more convenient time. Right now was not convenient at all. He should just leave her behind, have her friends rescue her and find her in a century or so... but it was too late now. The second he would let her out of his grasp, she would run. She might not leave Mystic Falls until her friends are done needing her, but she would be alert and watch out for any sign of his presence and make sure to never get close again. True, he had not thought the first part of the game would last so long, as he had clearly underestimated her, but he could not hit the pause button, because then he might never get to hit "play" again. Neither could he just take her on a road trip, not in that weakened state she was in. For about a day now she had been lying in his bed too exhausted to move, and this morning, he finally had gotten first signs of "strength". Meaning that with a little bit of luck she might be able to stand up without help, but not very much else. Taking her on a trip would mean, no matter how many times he could snap her neck, she would need blood and energy. He would have to either compell her or give her blood bags, and that would put him back to square one.

"Are you even listening to me?" Rebekah shrieked.

"No one is keeping you here. You want to pack up and leave. Fine. " The irony that just a couple of days ago, the situation had been reversed, with her wanting to stay and him wanting to leave, was not lost on either.

Rebekah stormed out off the room "Suit yourself". She was tired of being constantly threatened with abandonement. She was so tired of all of it.

Caroline could hear them talking, especially the yelling. She was too weak for her sense of hearing to function fully, but in need of information, she had focused on their words like a life line, only that the little information she got, was not very soothing. Alaric was still out there. She was still stuck with Klaus. Even the stuff about Rebekah leaving was freaking her out. All this time she had been sitting on his bed, with her arms wrapped around her legs, trying to think of a way out. Only there was none. Physically, she had never been a match to Klaus, but if given the right moment and a good-enough distraction, she might have been able to get away, if Klaus had not made so damn sure to make and keep her even weaker. After what happened with Tyler, she was too afraid to even thinkg about her friends trying to rescue her again. She did not want to find out how Klaus would retaliate this time, she did not even know if Tyler was still alive and she could not take the risk of losing even more people. A tear ran down her cheek, when she thought about that. Another option left would be to bargain with him, but then, what did she have to bargain with. For the moment all she could do was biding her time and hope that something will make him change his sick game.

His words from the other night were still haunting here "_Fix you, I will"_ Not only had he dared to touch her memory of her father, but he finally had made a threat she could not just bury in the recess of her mind. Leave it to Klaus, to take one of the most traumatic experiences in her life, aim it at her own insecurities about not being good enough or trying hard enough and then turning it all upside down at the same time. She could not help but feel that no matter what she did, she would always lack something. In her head she knew that this was not true, but it still made her feel like it was.

He stood in the doorway quietly observing the girl that was so lost in her thoughts that she did not hear her currently biggest nightmare entering the door. Once again, he was struck by how human she can look sometimes. Instantaneously, he felt the urge to comfort her, but he held himself back, because he could comfort her all he wanted, she would always see him as the enemy, always choose her friends, always choose Tyler. Maybe, he was right before. Maybe in a century or so he would have had a chance, but that was before. Now, after the events of the passed days, he had no choice but to go through with his plan. Plus, she would be better off being a ripper then she is now. She´d be safer being a walking threat to everyone else, then a constant victim and bait. If only she could see that, too.

"I take it you heard everything." He stated, sitting himself next to her, slowly and gently but with a threatening smirk on his face.

"Alaric is still alive" She said without looking up at him.

"Yes, but don´t worry. Given my blood connection with most of your friends, I am quite sure they will do everything in their power to keep me safe." Still, she was not looking at him "Me and Elena, we really have nothing to worry with such a noble army ready to defend us, now, do we?"

"Good for you". Whatever game Klaus was meaning to play now, Caroline did not want any part in it. "What about you?." Klaus wanted her to look up. " The how manieth time was this now, that someone was angry at someone that was not you, but somehow you wound up the one being kidnapped, tortured... So tell me, the how manieth time was this now?" He crouched closer to her from the left, and even though her blonde curls were covering her face, his left arm found her right cheek blindly. He slowly caressed it, waiting for her to finally look up. She tried to brush him off, but he firmly placed his other hand on her arm. "I am very patient, and I am really curious about the answer, sweetheart. My personal count is: five."

Caroline did not look up, but he could feel her head jerk just tiny bit.

"It all started with Damon, didn´t it? Dating you ... using you... harming you... in order to get to Elena, and Stefan , I presume. But you can´t really be blamed for that. No one taught you, no one told you, no one bothered all that much... your mother could have told you about vampires, Elena and Stefan could have saved you earlier, but no one did. And what is a pesky human against a psychotic vampire like Damon Salvatore, right?"

"Or like a psychotic hybrid like Niklaus Mikaelson, right?". She countered, still not looking at him. He responded by letting go off her cheek, grabbing her other arm and within flash straddling her legs, which until then she had still kept close to her torso. He was now sitting on her legs, pulling her upper body close to his, with her still looking away from him. Then he focused on the task at hand.

"Yeah, well, had it been me, I definitely would have turned you, and if I had we would not have to go through all this trouble right now. You see, I would have taught you immediately. No bunny diets, no taking crap from people that are below you, I would have made an actual vampire out of you. But then again, let´s just be gratefull you got turned at all. Which brings me to Number 2. Katherine. Turning you for what? Why? And without your permission? I bet no one even told you that there is a dangerous Elena-look-a-like running around Mystic falls. They just left you in that hospital, unprotected, helpless, and Katherine could just walk in and kill you. Just imagine if she had not meant for you to turn and for you to just die. No matter how fluffy the pillow, suffocation is still a bitch. But, I guess you would know all about that." He pushed her upper down onto the bed and gently trapped both of her wrists above her head. "And then she left you, all alone, with no guidance. Not because you had done something to her, or had rubbed her the wrong way, but because you got trapped in a war that had nothing to do with you. But, well, at least it gave you some supernatural abilities, it gave you strength... one would think the count could have stopped here." He did not like that he still had not gotten her to look at him. But he always had liked a challenge.

" It was not her war with Stefan and Damon that got me turned, it was her war with you."

"Yeah well, so many ingredients these witches need for a spell to work, but truth be told I am more than delighted that it was not you I had to kill that night. But, love, you´re jumping ahead in the story. We´re not there yet."

"You killed Jenna." She nearly turned to him in anger, but instead she just clawed her wrists in the sheets beneath them, trying hard to suppress her anger. Klaus places a finger onto her mouth and leaned down to whisper into her ear. "Ssshhh...no rushing ahead in the story, love."

"So... how did the story go... oh, I remember. Damon killed a werewolf and one night you woke up in a cage, with a bullett piercing out of your skull and a man shooting wooden bullets and vervain at you. Again, no one had your back, not even your precious Tyler, not even after all that help I am sure you were during his transition. You did not stand a chance, because even as a vampire, no one told you how to be one, how to fight... don´t your friends grow tired of keeping you weak until they need to rescue you?". His hand travelled down her body and finally rested on her thigh, just where the shirt she was wearing ended.

"And then... your father came back home."

"Stop it." Caroline pleaded, but she did not turn her eyes or her head. She had not recovered from what Klaus had said last night, and evidently Klaus would not give her time to recover either.

"No. Not until you get my point. What did he do to you? A little sunlight there, a little vervain gas here, telling you that you need to be fixed by not drinking blood, when even at this very moment, being on blood would have probably kept you strong and alert enough to not fall into Carol Lockwood´s trap? Like I said last night, he is not wrong about needing to be fixed, but the rest, I am afraid he got all wrong. You need to be strong, and healthy, and you need to know how to fight and how to be ruthless, to keep yourself safe. You´re so openhearted and caring... but you don´t admit that it would be easier for you to keep your precious heart on your sleeve if you would know how to tear it from another first. Because we´re predators with a lot of natural enemies, and the weaker you make yourself to be by clinging onto all this humanity, the more of them you´ll get. No matter how well you mean, no matter how none of this is your fault... you will always fall prey to people like your father, that punish you for a choice that was not yours to make. Like your mother, who plot behind your back to have you killed, like Damon, like Alaric."

"Speaking of him... you know why he never came after Rebekah again after you saved her, right?"

"I was the most obvious, less original choice.". She spat.

" Exactly, not even a year old, no training, no hunting instinct, ... no warm blood running through your system. Just the right kind of sidekick to force a major character into submission. Just the right bait for Elena. And again ... Not Your War. 5 Moments when you had to take the wrath of anger you did not cause, simply because you´re so easy to drag into messes. You see, love" he bent down to kiss her cheek lightly. "I am trying to keep you safe, you need to be improved, fixed, just in this one way. You need blood, not just because you´re on withdrawal right now, but because it strenghtens your system, makes you able to fight, makes you more alert. And I promise you, when all of this is over, you´ll be magnificient" He placed another kiss onto her jaw. "Beautiful" Another kiss just a tad bit lower. "Strong". "The next kiss trailed down her neck ." Ruthless" After that kiss, he stopped and hovered over her . "... You´ll be alive, you´ll see me and you will finally understand."

After his speech the room was quiet. Even he was surprised at just how much he had spoken, when all he had meant was for her to look into his eyes, so they could continue their silent conversations. Throughout all of this he had kept his voice quiet, low and dangerous. He had meant every word as advice, as a plea for her life but also as a threat, because the sooner she gave up fighting him, the sooner he´d be in charge of himself again, and she´d be his and his alone.

Caroline slowly turned to meet his gaze. "Six" That was all she said.

"Six what`?" He asked, slightly bewildered.

Caroline sighed, knowing that she would have to talk to him slowly, for it to stick, while all she really wanted to do for him is to yell and scream and spit at him. But it had to stick.

"There were six times I was taken and punished for the deeds of others. Because right now I am here, tired, terrified of what you´ll do to me next, of what you´ll do to my friends and family. You say you want to fix me, but all you really want to do is break me, preferably shatter me into so many pieces that I can never be fixed again. And why? Because you can´t be fixed. You yourself are so broken and you´re angry and you´re scared of being alone and powerless. You hate the thought of not having anyone and the idea of not being in control, so you force people to stay, and if they leave you punish them"

He had her by the throat in a flash, but was unable to decide what to do with her. He wanted to do to many things at once, take her right here and there until she had screamed herself hoarse with his name on her lips only so that he could taunt her about that for all eternities. Or compell her into accompanying him into a nursery tonight and drain all of the babies all by herself. Kill Tyler. Kill all of her friends. Let her go and just be happy. Snap her neck. Tell her she was right. Torture her like the others never would have before. He could not utter any of this, he could not decide on it, but it showed in his eyes. This mixture of anger, desire, admiration and revenge and a strange kind of trust that he could not place. And once again, he could only tell her that through his gaze.

It took him several minutes trying to calm down, and in all that time he never loosened the grip on her throat. She was sure she had done the trick. Now he would have to kill her or he would change his plan, maybe forgetting all about his current one. He´d punish her for her words, but everything was going to be okay in the end, if only she could avoid blood. If only she could let him slip up, if only she could make him too angry to think. He would have to react now, especially since Rebekah had been listening to the entire conversation from outside the room. And if Caroline had sensed her, Klaus must have, too.

Finally he spoke again: "Hm, whatever am I supposed to do with you, love?"

That was the moment when his cell phone rang, cutting through the tension. Without releasing his grip, he took his phone from his jacket.

"Hallo, Stefan. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He was surprised to have Stefan call him, he knew it would be about Caroline, but until then all he had heard from were Tyler, Elena and a couple of snarky comments from Damon. Caroline looked confused as well.

"Well, how about this... we meet, you and me, in an hour at the Grill. I am dying to hear your proposition." With that he hung up. He quietly looked at Caroline once more before calling "Bekah, I am afraid you will have to help Caroline with a change of clothes and not "accidentially" hurting herself for an hour or two, looks like I´ll be having a drink with my an old friend." He said with a devilish grin, that caused Caroline to fear for her friend.

Rebekah just walked into the room: "Why would I volunteer to babysit her? She´s old enough."

"Yes, and not strong enough to last long up on her own, plus, you would not want me to remember you eavesdropping by the time I come back, do you?" Rebekah sighed. "So keep her safe, especially from her stubborn self and mostly, make sure she is still there when I get back."

He kissed Caroline on the forhead "Until later, love." In a flash he was gone, leaving her with Rebekah, who looked not pleased at all.

Okay, I am sorry, I am not sure this chapter turned out that well... but I hope I can make up for it with the next one.


	6. I tear your heart open

Rebekah was shocked and annoyed. But mostly shocked. After listening to his brother´s exchange with that blonde, she was secretly in awe of her, because frankly she could not recall any one ever calling her brother out on his own insecurities, especially not when he happened to be holding you captive. But Caroline had done just that. Even more so, Rebekah was shocked by Klaus´ seeming care for the girl, in his own way he had been serious about wanting to keep her safe, thus making her a liability to them all. They should be out of Virginia by now, instead they were still in Mystic Falls, all because of her. Plus, now Rebekah was forced to actually spent time with her. She had never particularly liked Caroline, something about the way in which they had too much in common made her dislike her badly, but also she was owing her, as the girl had saved her from Alaric. That she hated even more than her bubbliness, her constant smiling and her sarcastic comebacks. Rebekah hated owing.

"So... how about you go take a shower and I see if there is anything more appropriate to wear for you than my brother´s shirt." Rebekah really just wanted to get this over with and was about to leave the room, when she noticed Caroline´s state for the first time. The girl tried to get up, but could barely hold herself steady. She was still too weak to make the few steps to the bathroom door on her own. Annoyed, Rebekah helped her up and steadied her on the way to the bathroom, while silently cursing Nik.

Caroline held herself up by leaning onto the sink.

"Okay, I´ll let you shower in peace, Nik told me to keep watch on you, but as long as you don´t run, and honestly, I don´t see you doing that anytime soon, I think you can handle a shower on your own.

"Why do you do it?".

Rebekah turned in the doorway, not understanding what Caroline meant.

"Why do I do what?"

"Take orders from ... him."

"He is my brother, and I am not taking orders."

"Sure, so you agreed to be my interim-guard, because he was "asking" so "nicely" and you actually had a choice to say no. Right."

"You wouldn´t understand. You´re just a silly blonde, you don´t know what it´s like to have siblings, you don´t know anything for that matter." Rebekah hissed at her while slowly approaching her at the sink.

Caroline pondered over that briefly.

"I know you want to leave and for him and you to be save, and he doesn´t care."

"Yes, because he is too busy keeping you alive."

"Well, so being delusional runs in the family? I wasn´t asking for any of this, just like you weren´t asking for any of this."

"Yeah, but the difference is, I am not a prisoner. You are."

"So... how come you can´t leave without him?"

"Because I am not abandoning my brother."

"Fair point. How come you don´t just snap my neck and go shopping or something? "

"Actually that sounds like a great idea." Rebekah stepped closer and placed her hand onto Caroline´s neck. After a few seconds though, she sighed and released it again.

" You know you want to."

" Why are you so keen on me harming you."

"I am not, I hate that feeling when the neck snaps, and the headache afterwards totally sucks, but don´t you see my point. You could knock me out, go shopping or have fun instead and when you came back, I would still be here, but you´re scared that Klaus will know that you did not follow his orders to the toe so... you stay, even though you hate my guts and want to leave."

"Like I said, you would not know anything about loyalty among siblings." said Rebekah in the most condescending tone she could master, but she knew Caroline had sort of made a point there.

"I don´t. I know about friendship though, and about mutual respect and about caring and showing people that you care."

"Wow, aren´t you a carebear."

"Did he even ask you?"

"About what?"

"How you´re dealing with what happened with your mother? Or did he just... expect you to be strong and somehow get over it?".

Rebekah looked at Caroline furiously. "Again, you don´t understand. We´re having each other´s backs, we need to survive, and all we did these past centuries was running. From our father, than from mother, now from your friend Alaric... "

"So it´s alright to be none-motional killing machines and stomp over each other´s feelings all the time. Or rather it is alright for him to jeopardize his family´s safety so he can live out some psycho fantasy of his with me, but pray you show any sort of despair over your mother´s death, even though she tried to kill and you briefly took over your body."

Rebekah grabbed Caroline by her throat. "I am not my brother. I will not let you talk to me like that."

Caroline knew her next words might effectively end her life, but considering what Klaus had in store for her, death, albeit at Rebekah´s hands, was not that scary an option ,and Caroline Forbes had never been one to back down in an argument.

"You won´t kill me or hurt me BECAUSE you are not your brother. Like it or not, he wants me unharmed, or what he and his sick mind consider to be "unharmed" and you won´t go against his orders."

"Shut up!" Rebekah´s grasp grew tighter and she jerked Caroline against the bath room mirrow.

"Or what, you´re going to kill me? Well... be my guest, because I would rather be dead then let him do to me what he already did to you."

Rebekah just stared at Caroline in anger, but something about the look in her eyes told Caroline to continue.

"He got you to turn it off, and everytime you keep on going soft on yourself, or crave something even remotely human, he pushes you back into turning it off again. That´s why you want my life - at least the high school part of it - so badly, because you never had that, or anything like it. Because the second he sees you going even remotely fluffy in any sort of way, he pushes you. I mean, I still think you´re an evil psycho blood slut all on your own, you´re not an innocent victim here, but Elena told me about what you told her about your human time and... I see the way you look at things in school sometimes... everytime you show the smallest sign of some sort of humanity, he makes it go away. Or you make it go away for him, honestly I don´t know which is more accurate." Rebekah listened, and slowly released the girl. "And he wants to do this to me as well. I don´t choose what he wants me to choose, so instead of dealing with his loneliness and the real reason why he keeps feeling that way, he tries to take my humanity from me. He said, he would turn me back to my old me, after a century or so... but he knows, after a century of being like you and Stefan, I won´t come back. He would rather have me hate myself for all eternity, then let me go. So, once he´s done with me, I will be just like you. Everytime I´ll want something human, he´ll make me turn it off, because once he makes me a ripper, he´ll be all I have. just like he is for you. And I´ll be a monster. " By then, Caroline had slowly broken down on the floor, crying and sobbing. All the terror and fear of the past days, had finally taken its toll.

Rebekah stood over her, a tear rolling down her cheek, for there was some truth to Caroline´s words. She felt frozen in time, until she heard Caroline sobbing " Please, I don´t want to be like that. I don´t want to be a monster."

Finally, Rebekah moved. She sat down next to the crying girl, not hugging her or holding her hand, but being company was still some sort of comfort to her... just like it comforted Rebekah as well. They sat like that until Caroline had stopped sobbing. After quite a while of soothing silence, Rebekah got up and turned the shower on. She gently helped Caroline up "You need to shower. I´ll get you some clothes."

Caroline nodded. "Ok."

After her shower, Caroline found a pair of jeans and a blue top waiting for her, along with a decent set of underwear. Rebekah came back in after she was done dressing.

"Well, finally your legs are covered again." Rebekah tried to smile.

"Yeah, finally wearing jeans again is great. Ttoo bad the top is so ... blue."

" It looks good on you. Nik... likes you in blue." The girls looked into each other´s eyes, and Rebekah thought that this is how cellmates in prison must feel like. No matter how strong the empathy might be, you´re still just trying to survive on your own.

" Yeah. I know." Caroline understood. Also, she was getting weaker again, and with exhaustion sat down onto the bed. Rebekah noticed.

She left the room and came back with a brush.

"Your hair is quite the mess." She said casually, as she sat behind Caroline and started brushing it.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Rebekah finally spoke again. "Tyler is alive. Nik kicked him out after ... you know. He made it out and is alive and well."

For the first time in days, Caroline´s shoulder relaxed a bit. Yet another tear ran down her cheek. "Thank you."

Rebekah kept on brushing. " I guess I owed you... after all you did save me from Alaric."

"Well... it was either saving your or cleaning up the school all by myself." It was yet another conversation between cell mates. Secretly, both girls started to wish they could both make it out alive. Rebekah continued to brush Caroline´s hair, something that felt so human and peacefull to her, she would have loved to continue, only then her cellphone rang.

She took it out and was shocked to see the caller I.D. "Stefan?" she exclaimed, as she picked up.

Caroline´s posture immediately grew tense. She could hear her friend´s voice from the other end of the line.

"Rebekah... please, tell her I am sorry, Please."

Caroline turned around with big, horrified eyes. "What are you talking about, Stefan. Where is Nik?"

"Please, give her a chance to run. Or at least tell her I am truly sorry."

"Calm down, and tell me what happened with Nik?".

"I blew it."

"What did you do?" Rebekah could not help but feel slightyl worried. Caroline slowly got up from the bed and made for the door. She heard enough to know that - exhausted or not - she needed to get out of the house. Right now.

"Stefan, if you want me to play messenger you better tell me what happened."

" I told him."

"Told him WHAT?" Caroline had turned around in the door way at Rebekah´s words.

" How to make her a ripper."

Rebekah locked her gaze with Caroline´s. "Run!"

Caroline turned and was about to run through the door, only instead she ran straight into something. Or rather someone´s chest. She was about to fall onto the floor, but Klaus´arms steadied her in an instant while pulling her closer to him.

"Did you miss me, love?". His eyes were scaring her. They were full of glee, menace and determination. Whatever he was planning on doing next, she did not want to know. Before she could even start struggling against his grip though, he had snapped her neck and she collapsed into his embrace. He carried her to his bed and put her down. Then he snatched the phone from Rebekah. "Good bye, Stefan." and hung up.

Then he looked at Rebekah. He was angry. "Leave." In a flash she had left the room.

When Caroline woke up again, she was, once again, in chains, only this time her arms were suspended high above her head, instead left and right from it. Which would make it almost impossible to repeat her earlier stunt.

"Hey, sweetheart. I am sorry that I had to snap your neck. But I think Stefan´s call had you a little too upset for your own good." Klaus was standing on the other side of the room, helping himself to a whiskey.

"What happened with Stefan."

"Nothing, me and my old chap just had a little chat."

_He had entered the grill, curious as to what Stefan was possibly going to offer up in exchange for Caroline. Not that anything but MAYBE Elena would ever suffice. He was surprised that so far no one has attacked him in an ill-planned kill-Klaus-mission. Instead he had found him waiting with two glasses of Bourbon. _

_"Hello Stefan."_

_"Hello Klaus."_

_"How are things?"_

_"Good, how is Caroline?"_

_"Alive. Rebekah is paying her company at the moment."_

_Stefan wanted to get this over with as fast as possible._

_"Take me instead. I know you need a new ripper, so let the girl go and take me instead."_

_"Let me guess Tyler ran to you and your friends immediately after his pathetic attempt at playing the hero?"_

_Stefan took a sip from his glass, remembering how a distraught Tyler had nearly knocked down the front door of the boarding house, and he remembered the pained face of Elena when she had heard his report. _

Klaus looked at Caroline.

"What happened`" she asked.

"That is not important, all that matters is that he gave me some pointers on how to deal with you."

A drink in his hand, he slowly approached her. "What are you going to do to me."

Once again, he placed a finger on her lips, motioning for her to be quiet. " Nothing... yet. I am still waiting for a few people to join us." Caroline was about to respond, but he interrupted her before she got the first syllable out "Patience, love." he said, caressing her cheek. Caroline felt the terror rising up in her throat.

_"Well... that is quite a nice offer. But I am afraid you have missed a few crucial points here. Number 1: I do not need a new ripper, I want a ripper by my side. And you should know well enough how I get when I want something. Number 2: As you said yourself, I need a NEW ripper, and you, old chap, have gotten rusty and you lack that thrill of innocence that our dear Caroline holds. Number 3: That is not all I want from Caroline, and I am afraid, you would not do for the rest. And finally... you betrayed me, give me a century to get over that.". _

_Stefan had known that his plan was long-shot but found himself desperate for a way of getting him to release Caroline._

_"Caroline... She is not a ripper, she is not cut out for it."_

_"Oh, really? Have you ever looked at your. Let me guess, all you and your friends can see is her compassion, her empathy, the cheerleading costume and those blond curls. But all of her, is just so perfect for making her a ripper. Just imagine if she were to use her empathy against people instead of for them. Imagine her OCD telling her how to kill a person slowly and painfully. Imagine her innocent look to lure in an unsuspecting victim. She´s got all the instincts, just like you. Though I am willing to bet she will outdo you within her first week."_

_"She is not like me."_

_"Like I said, just look at her potential. Just really look at her."_

_Stefan began to fear for Caroline, especially when he noted the way Klaus spoke about her. He would rather destroy her then releasing her._

_"The potential is not enough. You and me, we had chosen the blood blindly. We tasted and tasted and tasted it, until we thought there was nothing else. When you and me decided to become murderers we had tasted blood and knew we loved it. Caroline is not like that. She has no idea what blood overdrive can do to you or how to handle it. She is all control and nothing else. She is not going to become a ripper like me."_

_Stefan knew he had made a mistake the second he saw Klaus smiling at him. "You´re right, mate." He said, cheering with his glass to Stefan. "She really has no idea, does she? Asking her to become a ripper or forcing her to feed off people without her actually knowing what she is missing out on, it´s not fair. The girl needs to make an informed decision now, doesn´t she?" In flash he had gulped down his drink and was gone, leaving Stefan to the realization that he had just doomed Caroline._

Klaus heard a knock, and one of his hybrids entered along with four girls Caroline vaguely remembered from school. No friends, but no strangers either. All four of them had obviously been compelled. Also, the hybrid brought a tray of empty champagne flutes, but no bottle.

"Ah, the party has arrived. Finally."

"What are you planning on doing?" Caroline asked, fear in her eyes.

"Well, you know. I have been wondering and wondering about how come I can´t make you drink any blood without force. Why do you keep resisting. I know a ripper when I see one. There is one hidden right beneath all your precious humanity, but for some reason no matter what I do, it won´t come out. Thankfully, Stefan pointed something out to me. While him and me were fortunate enough to go on rampages the second we got turned, you weren´t. You denied yourself the joys of your first blood overdrive. And having no idea what you´re missing, how can I expect you to make an informed decision when I offer you humans to feed off."

"I won´t feed off them."

"I am not asking you to rip into them. Not yet. Right now, I am just going to feed you their blood, until they are drained. And tomorrow we´ll see how you feel about having a bite, shall we?".

"No." Caroline struggled against her restraints. To no avail, but she was panicking now. Klaus was right, she might have had human blood before, but she had never gotten high on it, she had drained one person in her live, and then she had been so panicked by it, that she had stopped. But she had liked it. There was no way of telling what the blood of four people would do to her.

Klaus in the meantime motioned for the first girl to come to him. He had her sitting down on a chair, and then his hybrid did all the work. The hybrid cut into her wrist, catching her blood with a flute, and once it was full to the rim, he handed it to his master, while catching the rest of the blood with the other glasses. Klaus took the glass, and grabbed Caroline´s neck so forcefull that she winced. "Have at it." Before she could motion to protest he had the glass pressed onto her mouth forcing her to swallow. Immediately her eyes turned dark and her veines popped out. "That´s more like it." Klaus gave her a genuine smile. He reached for the next glass, while the hybrid took the empty one to have it filled again.

Upon seeing the new glass, Caroline said "no", but Klaus was faster, stronger and more determined. She never stood a chance. He forced a second glass down her throat. Then a third... and a fourth. When the girl on the chair had finally collapsed from blood loss, he motioned for the second girl to come forward. "Please, stop it." Caroline was begging for him to stop. " I will, once you have finished all four girls, I will stop." he said, approaching her with yet another glass. He knew that by now he could stop holding on to her neck, she was already in such a blood rush that she was drinking all on her own despite how much she hated it. But he wanted to keep his front row seat on every glass she drank, until the last human would be dead. Maybe two people would have been enough, but he was sure her self-control would never recover from four.

"You´re cheating, brother." Rebekah said after having watched from the door frame.

"It´s not cheating. It´s setting up the game correctly. After all, I need her to know what she is missing before she denies it to herself." Again, another glass. The how manieth, everyone has lost count of.

"Can I at least have one as a snack for myself?" Rebekah asked, knowing that one less person to consume would lessen the fight for Caroline.

"No. Go out and get your own snack." he responded, taking another glass and turning his back to her.

Rebekah took a pitiful look at Caroline. Her eyes were crimson red and black and shame, her lips were completely covered in blood. There were tears of self-loathing running down her cheek and her shoulders were slumped down in defeat.

As she was about to turn and leave, she took a look at his brother. She saw the glow in his eyes, the way he every now and then gently touched the girls´cheeks. She heard his soft voice as he was soothingly telling Caroline how bright her future will be once "they´s get past this". And suddenly Rebekah felt more fear then ever. Her brother was having genuine feelings for her, and with genuine feelings he had never been good. Never had he known how to handle not being in charge. And that was why he was doing all of this, he was trying to stay in control, even if it meant destroying someone he cared for so deeply. Caroline was no longer just fighting for her own humanity, she was also, unwittingly, fighting for Nik´s. That´s when Rebekah started to cry as well.


	7. I sow my own shut

His hybrids had cleaned up pretty quickly afterwards. The bodies were gone, all four of them, so were all the stains, except for the ones on Caroline´s face, but those he did not mind. Those were part of the ritual. After he had fed her the girls´ blood, she had been unable to retract her fangs or change back her eyes for hours, the vampire inside her had taken charge. He could not wait to unchain her and take her out hunting with him, but sadly that would have to wait a little bit longer. He had to keep her chained up at least for one more night, he would have to let her pass one final test before he was going to take her outside, into the real world. But he was sure she would not disappoint him. The game was, after all, almost over.

He had been up for hours, gazing at her beautiful face, her peacefull way of sleeping - even when being chained up. Last night he had been tempted to kiss her again, several times, but had held himself back since she was so intoxicated with blood, she might not have remembered it today. And he wanted her to remember everything he did to her and for her. So he held back, and instead just left her alone with the bodies for a few hours. She had been asleep when he returned. Glancing at the clock, he noted that it was almost noon. He slowly got up and approached his prisoner. All it took was him placing his hand upon her cheek and her head jerked up and her eyes opened wide. She did not say a word just looked at him in panic, and confusion. He held her gaze, slowly calming her down.

Then it all came back to her. The girls. Their blood. Him not stopping. She wanted to scream at him, say something, but his eyes kept her silent, telling her to calm down. So in stead she took deep breaths, until she felt somewhat calm.

"How are you feeling today, sweetheart?" he asked in a soft voice.

"I hate you." was all she said back, albeit also in a soft voice.

"That was not my question. Tell me how you feel."

Caroline wondered what he was getting at. She felt guilty and ashamed. She had albeit not wilingly taken four lives last night. Then she felt it. He had been asking about her emotional state but about her physical one. Her gums had stopped hurting, when previously they had been hurting so much and constantly that she had almost gotten used to it. Her jaw and her throat were out of pain. The hunger was gone and replaced by a strong feeling and an alertness for her surroundings. Physically, she felt sickeningly good, making her hate herself even more for last night´s events.

"I take it your body is obeying you again?" he said with a smirk as if he could her mind, a possibility that she did not want to ponder too much about.

"I really enjoyed you last night." he said putting his arms around her waist. "I think I might take you out for a real dinner date tonight. What do you say?"

It made Caroline shiver how he could say the most psychotic or delusional things in the most loving voice, it made her wish he´d simply hate her.

"I´d rather go home. Thank you." she hissed back. His face darkened slightly.

"You think they would still want you back after all the killing you did last night? Damon will probably stake you once he smells all that blood on you, or maybe Stefan will do it, after all, it was practically his idea... You think your mother would want to share a house with a murderess?" Caroline´s face fell at that, she was so cried out that her eyes could no longer form any tears, but the look was still there. "You made me do it. I didn´t even touch them." she defended herself, but immediately regrettet it, knowing that she had just played into his game.

"Okay, maybe I did so... for the first four to six glasses, what about all the others? You started drinking all on your own before the first girl was even gone. Face it sweetheart. You´re like me. A killer. You liked the feeling of fresh, warm blood in your throat. You crave the scent. You like doing as you please instead of doing as others bid you. That´s okay. It´s one of your most adorable qualities." Though Klaus could not really name any non-adorable qualities she might have, he was truthfull to the extent that one of the things he enjoyed most about her was her potential. She was smarter than she gaver herself credit for, stronger than anyone ever acknowledged and unique in a way he doubted anyone without his life experience would understand. And she was all _his._

"Let me go." she said weakly. After the passed events the fight in her was suddenly gone. She was too tired to even plead, to tired to think about his words. She had a new mantra "let me go", though she had no idea of where she would go. Maybe he was right, maybe nobody wanted her back now. The thought made her even more tired and hopeless, but even so, going anywhere was better than staying with HIM. Maybe if she said it enough he´d just do it. One way or the other. Either by releasing her or by killing her.

"Well. Maybe in a few hours we can discuss the matter of your restraints. I have to go, I have matters to attend and things to arrange for tonight. Until I come back, I suggest you think about my words. I would be hugely disappointed if I have to keep you chained up and cancel our dinner plans."

"Let me go." Caroline focused onto her new mantra. But her voice lacked the strenght it had been having all those days. He had gotten to her, and he knew it. He kissed her on the forehead and left.

Rebekah had heard the entire conversation. She knew her brother and understood his mind games better than anyone else. She also could tell that he was winning, and somehow, after all this bickering with Caroline and her friends, she was not delighted. She had watched Caroline fight him last night, she had watcher her fight him all week, and in one thing Caroline was right. Her brother had taken Rebekah´s humanity just like he was trying to do to Caroline now. She had spent a great deal of time thinking about their previous exchange and knew she was right with some of her assessments about Nik. He may not have been born a monster, he may even be capable of love. But the way in which he sometimes expressed it, and the expectations for people he tied to it, were toxic. Her brother would always be lonely, until he learned to wait and trust people, until he learned how to be kind without an ulterior motive. He craved Caroline for her loyalty and honesty, that much Rebekah understood now, but he was making her his, by destroying all those qualities about her. Like he destroyed everything he wanted, as soon as he stopped feeling like he was in charge. And now Caroline was losing the battle, and Nik had no idea that he was losing a war against himself. Maybe he was really that far gone already.

She considered talking to Caroline, but when she thought about the ordeal she had been through last night, but she honestly did not know what to say. After spending a thousand years without real friends she finally realized that she was incapable of comforting anyone. She never had to, after all, there had always been Nik. And the one time she tried to leave him behind, he had daggered her for 90 years. In all her anger, Rebekah smashed a glass against the nearest wall.

Klaus came back hours later. With a sixteen-year old boy in tow. Rebekah came out of her room, with a curious look.

"Only one this time?" she tried hard to conceal her mixed emotions.

" Well, she only needs to voluntarily bite into one neck, in order to make the transition complete. Care to watch?" He said with an evil grin.

_No_ was what Rebekah honestly and quietly thought, but all she said with a shrug of her shoulders was "Sure."

When they got to Caroline, she looked up. For a second the girl looked relieve, as she had expected another blood overdose, but he could not achieve that with only one human. Before he could let out a relieve sigh though, it hit her. Her hunger came back all on his own. Her fangs did not come out, neither did her veins pop out, but she could feel her eyes dilating. The prospect of blood was enough to call out the predator in her, and Caroline wanted to scream now. Klaus was in front of her in a flash, sensing the frustrated scream she struggled to hold inside. Sensing her feeling of defeat. He loved being so close to a victory.

"I brought you a little snack." he said with his trademark smirk.

"Let me go". she hissed.

"Come on now, love, don´t play hard to get. We both know what you really want to do."

"Let me go." she had to stick to her mantra for as long as she could stay sane.

"We can discuss this after dinner", he said, calling the boy forward with a snap of his fingers.

"Let me go."

"or... what?" he challenged her.

"Let me go." She knew a discussion with her had never gotten her anywhere but further into trouble, three words would have to suffice for now.

Klaus was about to lung for her throat again, but thought better of it. He knew she was almost where he needed her to be, so he could effort a little leniency towards her, right?

"Okay.", he simply stated.

Caroline´s eyes shot up, though in her unbelieving head she kept on reciting her mantra. _Let me go. Let me go. LET ME GO._

"You are free to go once you do one tiny thing for me." Caroline stared at him, waiting for him to continue talking. _Let me go._

"All I really want is to watch you bite into a neck. You see, it must be a marvellous thing to behold. You let out your inner ripper just this once, and if afterwards you still wish to leave, you are freee to go. How about that?"

All the Let-me-Gos in Caroline´s head came to a halt. All he wanted from her was one kill and she would be released. Not even a kill, more like a bite. She might be able to stop herself from kiling that poor kid. Maybe she might. She knew it was a deal with the devil, and it was giving in but it could buy her freedom. Though one look at the compelled but terrified kid was enough to make her stomach churn. She could not really hurt an innocent person. Or could she? She needed to think for a few more seconds. She needed to buy time.

"If I take one bite... I mean if I feed of one other person... you will .. let me go? You get to watch me feed off another being and ... I get to leave?" She asked shyly.

"You have my word."

"One bite only?"

"If you can stop yourself after one bite, one bite shall be enough." he said tauntingly. Caroline looked at him for a few seconds. She turned every single one of his words upside down before reaching a decision.

"I want to go home." she finally let out. Rebekah closed her eyes in grief.

"Of course, sweetheart." Klaus smiled.

He reached up for her chains and slowly released them, catching Caroline´s limp body. "Carefull sweetheart, take your time." She stood in front of him, adjusting to that feeling of being able to move again, as he gently massaged her shoulders. "Now, relax, look at him. Look at your target and then think of where you want to bite him first. Only focus on his pulse. Listen out for it." Caroline fearfully looked at the kid, then at Klaus, then she closed her eyes. "Can you hear it, love?" "No" she opened her eyes, in a confusingly determined way. But it did not faze Klaus. "Alright, we´ll practice that the next time then. Now. Love have at it when you´re ready." he smiled and kissed her knuckles. " I am sure I will enjoy the show."

"Let´s hope so." Caroline suddenly looked up at him. Then it all happened fast.

She did exactly as he had told her, letting her hunger take over. Her teeth had already sunk into his neck before she was done smashing him up against the wall. After that she literally clawed her hands into his body, trying to keep her fangs into his neck. His blood tasted diviner than the last time, and it made her even stronger.

Klaus reacted a little too slow, by the time he realized that she had played him and had gotten over the initial pain, she had already sucked out quite the amount out of him. It took him a considerable effort to throw her into the opposite direction against the bed. Then he held his hand to his throat, and to his own surprise found himself panting.

"You... "

"I am free to go" she said quickly as she stood up, blood all over her face.

"You what?"

" I am free to leave." Caroline said calmly "You wanted to watch me feed, fine. I just gave you a front row seat."

"I did not say to rip into MY neck" he hissed. His eyes growing darker.

"You did not specify any neck. So I am free to go."

He looked at her with his wolf eyes now. Caroline had to once more gain all her courage to speak.

" You want to stop being lonely, then become a person others WANT to be with instead of forcing yourself upon as all and then howling when we try to run. Stop being such a twelve-year old and grow up. I get it, you had a tough childhood, that was a millenium ago. Get over it, Get over your hybrid self and try to be person. Getting me to drink blood won´t make you happy. Getting people to stay out of fear, doesn´t make you happy. Becoming the most powerfull being on Earth had not made you happy. You see a pattern there? I really hope you do, because I am done talking to you. I am leaving." Caroline knew that those lines were dangerous words to say, especially in her situation, but she just couldn´t help herself. He had attacked her peace of mind, he was no longer entitled to his. Though she had come to suspect that he had never had that much to begin with.

Klaus was about to attack Caroline for real, but to his surprise Rebekah intervened. "Brother, she is right. You did promise to let her go. This would be the first time in your entire existence that you were to break your word. She is not worth it."

For the first time ever since he broke the curse, he truly felt like the big bad wolf from the fairytale world, huffing and puffing and not really having any plan. He wanted to really hurt Caroline right now just as much as he wanted to ravish her.

"Fine" he finally spat.

Rebekah grabbed Caroline by the wrist, while also grabbing the jacket she wore when she had arrived over a week ago, the one into whose sleeve she had bitten in order to drain herself, and pulled her out of the room. Briefly Caroline tried to reach for the boy.

"He stays, if you so much as try and save him I´ll consider our agreement null and void." He was hoping she would. Though he knew, if he got to kill the kid, she would hate herself forever for it. Either way, she was going to loose at least THIS round.

For a second, Caroline was torn, then Rebekah grabbed her. "The boy will die anyway, you however will not get a second way out of here." Rebekah stabilized Caroline on their way downstairs. Before they reached the door, she gently helped her into her jacket. Then they heard the kid´s screams from upstairs. Rebekah flashed into the living room and came back with a bottle of gin. Then the two girls left the mansion.

They walked off the property until they reached a sidewalk, then Caroline finallly broke down crying. Rebekah took out her phone and called Stefan. "She is free, so you better come and get her. This is no trap, but I am not sure for how long my brother is going to be keeping his word, before he changes his mind. So you guys better come right now and pick up your friend." That was all she said.

Caroline held the open bottle in her lap and took a sip. "You should not have called them."

"Whom else should I have called, you are in no condition to make it to your house on your own. And I meant it when I said that Nik might change his mind." Rebekah took the bottle and took a sip as well.

"They won´t want me back." she said taking another big swig.

Rebekah had not realized just how much Nik had really gotten to her.

"I really wanted to drink from that poor kid, and I would have, if I ... I don´t even know how I suddenly thought of biting HIM instead. And that boy... he is dead because of me." Another swig. Another tear.

"No. He is dead because Nik chose him as food. Not because of you." Rebeka stated matter-of-factly.

"But I wanted to kill him, too. I still want to." Rebekah took the bottle away before Caroline could take another sip. "Your friends will help you. You are not alone with Nik anymore, there are people who will have your back and help you."

As if on cue, Tyler´s car came around the corner. Stefan and Tyler came out, looking at the two girls.

"Caroline" was all that Tyler yelled.

"What happened" Stefan asked Rebekah.

"He fed her blood, he tried making her bite kid, she ... she found a way out. Let her explain the rest when she is ready. I am out of here." Rebekah felt slightly overpowered by the sitatuation. She turned to leave, but not before exchanging another long cell-mate look with Rebekah. "See you in school."

In a flash Rebekah was gone.

Tyler walked up to Caroline, who backed away at first.

"Care, I am so... " before he even got to finish his apology, she broke down in his arms, crying. Tyler, relieved and worried at the same time, just pulled her into a loving embrace. He had his Caroline back.

Stefan looked on, noting the dried blood on Caroline´s face and slammed his fist against the car, vowing to make up for what he had let happen to her. He knew Klaus-damage when he saw it.

When Rekekah returned she found Nik sitting on the floor, the poor boy lying dead on the flaw...torn into several pieces.

"You helped her." was all he said.

"No, I helped you." She said from the doorway, knowing better than to get near to him in this state.

"I lost her NOW, she is never going to come back to me.". he yelled.

"You lost her the second you decided to take away her freedom. She was right, can´t you see that?"

Klaus looked up at his sister, and for the first time, it hit him. They were both right. NIklaus Mikaelson was not an abomination because he happened to be a hybrid of a vampire and a werewolf. He was an abomination because he destroyed everything he ever cared about in an effort to completely control it.

"Get out." he quietly said to Rebekah. And so she did. As soon as she closed the door, she heard the sound of his anger destroying every object in the room. And for the first time in a thousand years, she felt pity for him.


	8. I m stripped, I m bare

They drove in silence. Tyler was with Carolin in the back of the car, uncomfortably holding her hand. Despite her letting him, and despite the previous hug, he knew, he just sensed that they were not okay. Not yet. Doing the right thing had never really come that easy to him, but he knew that nearly forcing her to feed from him - at Klaus´behest, on top of it all - was the crappiest he thing he had ever nearly done. He could make excuses like not having wanted to lose her or let her die, but he had known right then that even at his bet intentions his decision had been selfish. Part of him wanted to go back and beat the crap out of Klaus, but that had gotten Caroline only into further trouble, so as much as he was itching for some frontier justice, she needed him there. If she would let him, that was.

Caroline had dozed off, and only awoke when Stefan had stopped Tyler´s car in front of her house. With a friendly smile, Stefan turned around "We´re there. Your mom is waiting."

It took her a second to comprehend. "Mom?" she asked incredulously, then her eyes widened in horror. "NO.. you can´t take me here, you ... no I can´t go in there." she stumbled.

"Care, what´s wrong." Tyler gave her a concerned look.

By then, Liz Forbes was already making her way to the car, eager to have her daughter back.

"Please... get me away from here." Caroline was pleading now.

In confusion, Stefan motioned with his hands for Liz to stop, who in equal confusion, obeyed. For a few minutes no one spoke. Caroline just stared at her feet, trying to find the right words, and she was grateful for Tyler and Stefan to give her time to explain.

Finally she spoke "Klaus fed me blood." She looked up at Stefan, who understood all too well. He knew how twisted Caroline must feel. Partially because he had been there, partially because he knew her. She would be torn now. It was a close call, but he was sure that the fear of attacking her own mother out of hunger outweighed the fear of having said mother hate her for having been fed blood. Klaus had made his best attempt to ruin her, and Stefan had albeit unwittingly inspired him to it.

"Caroline. Look at me." She didn´t butch.

"Care, please." He was the one pleading now. With a sigh she finally looked up and it freaked him out to see her so unsually calm, so beaten down. That was not her.

"Listen, you´re right. We can´t go here. Not yet. We will one day, but not today. Right now, we´re going to drive to my place. It´ll be just you, me, Damon and of course Tyler. And we´ll work it out. It´ll be safe for you again. I promise."

"She´ll hate me" she whispered, tears streaming down her face.

"No she won´t. She loves you."

"But I... I..." Caroline could not phrase the words this time. She didn´t need to though.

"No, you didn´t. Klaus did." Stefan said with a determined look, before he got out to talk to Caroline´s mom.

When the arrived at the Boarding House, only Damon was there, as Stefan had previously texted him to send Elena, Matt and Bonnie home. Caroline did not need another non-encounter confrontation today, neither did he. Damon had been waiting, and whathever snarky comment he had ready in order to establish a sense of normalcy for himself and maybe even for Caroline, it disappeared when he saw her. There was still blood on her face, her blue eyes were almost empty, she looked tired and he could not help but wince at the sight of that horrifying hole in her sleeve. He knew from Tyler how THAT had happened. Wordlessly he handed her his drink, trying to avoid eye contact, which she took without even looking up at him, which in return he was relieved about. He could not help but feel that every time she came to harm, it was all the beginning of a dark tradition, which he had started for her. Klaus probably had done worse to her psyche than his abuse ever had, but he had started it.

Stefan showed Caroline to a room, inviting Tyler to stay over. They could talk tomorrow, for now she would need rest, though he doubted it would come to her easily. She was still hungry, and still broken. They had gotten her some blood bags in the mean time, but that was not going to be enough for her now. He had not invited Tyler to stay just for her comfort, but also as a less obvious watch over her, he only hoped she would not figure it out right away.

He found Damon by the fireplace.

"So what did Klaus do to Blondie", with Stefan he could pretend to be snarky. That was infinitely easier.

"All he did to me minus the compulsion part". Stefan said, while making himself a drink.

"Awesome, so Blondie is going to go all you on us." he knew that was not entirely fair to Stefan, but he figured Stefan could take it.

He could.

"She was afraid to meet her mother. Afraid of what she might do. To be honest. So was I."

Damon stared at the fire broodingly for some time, before he reacted. "He will pay for this." was all he said, before he grabbed a stake out of nowhere and made for her room. Stefan had barely time to stop him "What are you doing" he yelled.

"I´ll make it quick for her." Damon said trying to get to Caroline.

"We can´t kill her."

"No you can´t. I can. Anything else would be unfair. You think she is ever going to recover from this. First me, then her dead, then Alaric, now Klaus... everyone has her limits, even Barbie. Do you really want to have her spend the rest of her life hating herself?" Damon said with genuine care.

" Give her some credit. You tried to stake her already once, because you thought she could not handle it. And she turned out to be just fine. She can get past this. We can get her past this. So stop going all tough guy on me and let yourself be a friend to her for a change." With that Stefan grabbed the stake and threw it into the fireplace.

After staring at his brother for a few seconds, Damon spoke in anger. "You only want to save her so you don´t have to hate yourself. Hasn´t she had to suffer through enough selfishness to last a lifetime? If she becomes a liability, it´ll be all on you." With that, he made for the door.

"Where are you going?" Stefan called after him, silently thanking Damon.

"To the Grill, I need to drink before I do something stupid as to try and kick that original bastards ass." With that he was gone. Leaving Stefan to his own thoughts.

Tyler held her in his arms, knowing she was not sleeping. And she knew he knew.

"Care. I am sorry." He turned her towards him, and she felt a scary reminder of a similiar way in which she was held only a few nights ago. Only this time, she knew she was safe. She just wasn´t feeling it yet. So she only looked at him, wordlessly.

"Look, Care. I know you´re mad. I know I screwed up big time. If you hadn´t..." He could not bring himself to say it. "If you hadn´t ... fought me off... I don´t know what would have happened. I should have done what you needed me to do and I know you hate me right now. I just, I want you to know, I am sorry. " Tyler knew how awkward he sounded and how it was not good enough. For the first time in his life he really felt inadequate.

Caroline just looked at him, thinking about his words, and about how she had felt when he had tried to make her feed off him. Then she thought of Klaus, and a shiver ran down her spine. It seemed like all of it was like some sort of domino, where every further reaction seemed to bring down another piece. It had to stop. Somewhere it had to stop. It would be so easy to blame Tyler, to hate him. Just like he was already anticipating her to. It would be so easy to bring him down as well. And then he would bring down someone or something else. It would never end. Or would it? Wasn´t she once better than this? Then she remembered.

" I don´t". she finally said gently. Tyler looked at her in bewilderment. "I don´t hate you." That had him stunned. " I mean I want to. You know I was ready to die and you were just... going to sell me out to him, and I could not get mad at you because you care about me and I am supposed to know that, but at the same time caring about me is no excuse to sell me out to the original hybrid devil himself ... and I should hate you, and I kind of really want to. But I don´t."

"But you are going to break up with me anyway?" Tyler asked understandingly, finally voicing the dreaded thought that had been on his mind ever since he gotten her back.

"Do you want me to?" she asked.

"What? No... Caroline.. why would I want that? I love you... but I .. I messed up so badly, why would you... I mean. I really messed up. Big time." Guilt was coming over him with all its might.

"Yeah, you did. So you have to do better tomorrow. And the day after. Because I need you. I need you to get it right this time, because I won´t be able to get this, us, that vampire thing or anything right for that matter. So I need you to be there for me like you weren´t at Klaus´ mansion. If you can´t ,then go, but if you can, then ... it would be nice if you stayed."

"Caroline.. I .. I will not let you down again. I just .. I don´t get why you would want to trust me again." Tyler was torn between grateful relieve and confusion.

"Because I can´t do both. I can´t fight him and what he did to me and you as well. Frankly, I don´t want to." It was as simple as that. At least to her it was.

Tyler finally knew that she would recover. He knew it then and there. With a shy smile he pulled her close to his chest. Caroline wanted to enjoy this moment. Only, she couldn´t. Not yet. As if on cue, he sensed it too. "Care, what is it?" he asked, gently stroking her hair. She paused, picking her words carefully. "You promise not to do something stupid?". Knowing he would not like her next words, he nodded. " I promise."

"Klaus kissed me. A couple of times, and sometimes, he would ... he would paint his lips in someone else´s blood and.. then, when he touched me and kissed me.. I could not help but... react." She shut her eyes in shame, briefly fearing Tyler´s anger.

Tyler breathed heavily, with the strong wish to rip Klaus into pieces. His natural reaction was the want to smash something, to have an outburst of some sort. But he had just promised Caroline to be there for her. And he was sure she did not need that. Neither did he, if he ever truly wanted to regain her trust. When he had calmed down, he placed his arms around her. "Caroline Forbes. I love you." He truly did.

The conversation was not enough to completely repair their relationship or to completely heal her, but she finally let out a sobb and started to really cry into his chest. Until she drifted to sleep, a deep and undisturbed sleep. She finally did feel safe enough for that. At least tonight. Tyler finally did too.

Damon had spent all evening thinking about Caroline Forbes. How he had met her, how he had abused her, how she had kicked his ass and how after all the growing she had gone through these past months, Klaus had come and smashed her into pieces. Maybe it was because he unintentionally had sired her, with Katherine´s "help". Despite all his blonde jokes, he had been proud of her. He could rely on her to play Klaus bait without a wasting time with stupid explanations. All her friends, even that stupid wolfboy Tyler, could count on her loyalty and her honesty. Even in her shallow human days she had cared. She had never wantingly done any harm to anyone, she had had barely anything to feel truly guilty about, until they had lost her during that Alaric mess in the school. Stefan had only given him pointers, but he was sure, that she now had enough to make her hate herself forever. Damon could not bare losing Elena, but when it came to striking the entire group, all of them, Klaus could not have chosen a better target. He drowned another drink at that thought.

"Good evening, Damon." Speaking of the devil and his phony British accent.

"Klaus. " Damon acknowledged without turning around. This evening was going to require more alcohol.

Okay. I know this chapter is a bit short, but I just wanted to post this. Again, not a chapter I am too sure about. No blood, no gore, nothing mindblowing... but hey.. Caroline needed some rest. Maybe I´ll rewrite that chapter later. :-)


	9. I m left here with nothing

Humans are the epitome of the phrase "ignorance is bliss", at least that held true for the Mystic Grill´s regular patrons. Right now, they were all drinking away their trivial days or playing pool or something along those lines. If they knew that the most dangerous being on earth was sipping on a whiskey at the counter, probably planning something that involved ripping out hearts and tearing people apart, limb by limb, they would probably freak out and run. Good thing they were humans and , thus, ignorant enough to be blissful, at least at the moment that was a good thing.

Damon, on the other hand, was not that fortunate. He had had plent of encounters on his own with Klaus. So far he had survived them all, no matter in which mood Klaus had been. As much as he hated to admit it, they shared a trait for snarky comebacks. However, he had never encountered a silent Klaus. The Klaus he knew well enough ,was the one that rhetorically toyed with his prey, and that guy was already a treat no one wishes to behold. But a taciturn Klaus was terrifying. Even to Damon. Running was pointless, and he somehow had no idea what he should say, since he had no idea what Klaus could want from him. Something concerning Blondie, that was for sure.. but he had not expected for Klaus to "call on" him, out of all people.

"So... how come Caroline is not tucked in safely in her bed right now?" he heard Klaus ask casually

Damon looked at the guy and could not help but ... to be himself. " She´s not even gone a day and you´re already back in stalker mode?" There was no other way, he could have known that she was not at home unless he either had his hybrids go there or check it out for himself.

"I take it she is at your humble abode. Not the wisest choice I´d say." Great Klaus had only spoken two entire sentences and already Damon was wishing he woudl go back to being scarily quiet instead of baiting him with his I-am-so-ahead-of-you-tone.

"And why is that?". Damon asked sarcastically.

"Well, mate, I don´t mind her being with you at all, don´t worry. It´s quite convenient for me. I enjoy knowing that she is hiding out in a place I can take her from whenever I choose to. "

"Yeah, because the last time worked out so brilliantly for you." He had no idea HOW Caroline had gotten out - yet - but he knew that Klaus was not happy about it. That much was obvious.

" Don´t worry, I am going to leave her be for the time being. I suppose, I´ll leave her with you until I change my mind. I just made an observation." Klaus said. Smiling into his drink.

_Yeah, you´re sick, twisted and a pain in the ass._ Damon thought. "How about leaving her be for like..ever? No offense, mate, but I think she made it very clear that she would indefinitely prefer for you to be gone."he said, thinking that he needed to get out of here. He was sure that Klaus was not seeking him out only to have him play messenger. "In case it skipped your attention... she is not into psychopaths, monsters and you."

Klaus sat down his drink, a broad smile on his face. Losing Caroline was a blow, a blow that he had caused himself. He knew that. But there was nothing he could do about that now. He did not need to try to know that his charm won´t get him anywhere now, no sorry would ever be big enough, no present thoughtfull enough, no amount of honesty in the world would ever get her to trust him again. She would always think of him as a monster, now. He remembered how she once lectured him on him forcing loyalty instead of earning love. She had been right. Maybe he should have taken her home into safety after that Alaric incident and maybe, had he been content with that "Thank you" she told him after he had taken out those pencils and told her she´d be save before she had passed out in his arms, the original plan of "perhaps one day..." would still be a likely scenario. But he had blown that. It was either giving up on her or... be the monster he had already proven himself to be. A simple choice, really.

He looked at then. "What was it like feeding off a human Caroline Forbes?" Damon was taken aback by the question. He had not seen that one coming.

"It´s kind of ironic, don´t you think. She ran from me straight to the vampire that abused her in her human days, to you and to .. oh, the vampire that gave the key to breaking her. And let me guess, right now she is crying her heart out in the arms of my hybrid. " He refused to say the name out loud, the thought of her with Tyler did not please. He had to remedy that situation soon.

"What are you getting it?" Damon was tired of this game. He still had the urge to kick Klaus´ass, despite knowing that it was a bad idea. Instead, he was sharing a drink with the bastard.

"I don´t know. But I know that it bugs me that you three get to play knights in shining armors, and all I am left with is the monster card, and I feel entitled to a better deal.".

"Ah... you´re right... but maybe...just maybe you should have thought of that before you chained her up and nearly killed her and made her a blood addict." Damon could not believe the guy.

"Well, and maybe you should have picked a different human to snack on, or maybe Tyler should have not played the hero or maybe Stefan should have chosen a better timing to open his big mouth to me. It´s all water under the bridge, really. Only somehow I am the one all of this came back to bite. Literally."

Damon looked up, hating it when he did not get a joke. "Anyway, if I were to ask nicely, would you forward a little message for me?"

"Depends on the message."

"Tell her that I still have plans for her." He almost sounded caring. Which freaked Damon out even further.

"Tell her yourself.. or better... write a letter...from a place far far REALLY far away." Damon hissed before he turned to leave.

"I thought you´d be like that." With that he snapped Damon´s neck.

Caroline was awoken by the hunger. In a flash she shot up in bed and tried to recollect where she was and why, only calming when she saw Tyler sleeping next to her. However, he immediately woke up too and looked at her. "Morning, Care. Are you alright?"

"I am hungry." she said, only briefly meeting his gaze. He had been wondering when it would begin, he remembered not being able to control his first after Klaus had turned him, but he never had been overdosed or denied blood. He could vaguely imagine what Caroline must feel like, and that vague concept was already causing him to worry. "It´s okay" he said, stroking her hair. "I´ll get you blood." She responded with a shy "okay", curling herself into a ball. On the way out it occured to him, that had she woken up at her own place, she would have been out to drain a neighbour in a flash. The smell of warm blood would have taunted her into madness. Forming a fist with his hands, he silently cursed Klaus before entering the Salvatore´s kitchen, greeting Stefan with a nod.

Stefan handed him two blood bags. "Here, give her that."

"So, what´s the plan?" Tyler asked, taking the bags. "How do we get this blood thing under control?"

"It´s a process, there is no switch she can just flip." Stefan tried to break it to Tyler gently.

"I know that. What I don´t know is what I can do." Tyler had always hated to feel stupid.

"Well.. .we need to keep her off people, meaning living people with a heartbeat for a while. No school, no shopping. No ..."

"... family or friends. What else?"

" Well, getting her to talk about it, would help. But I guess, we´ll start with taking her hunting and getting outside while keeping her occupied. The last she needs to feel is boredom or frustration, that only fuels her hunger. It´s gonna take time." There was no easy way to say it.

"I know. I just wish there was something I could do."

"You got her to rest last night. It´s a start. You´ll work your way up from there."

At that, the door bell rang. So Stefan left Tyler to his thoughts. Tyler grabbed two cups of coffee and was about to head up to Caroline´s room when he heard a familiar female voice.

"How is she?." _Elena?_ Tyler turned to walk to the door.

Stefan looked at Elena in confusion while she made her way into the house.

"Elena, I know you want to help and all... but what are you doing here?" He asked, gently but firming pulling her back to the door.

"Damon texted me and asked me if I would pick up some things for Caroline at her place and bring the here. How is ..."

"He WHAT?" Elena´s eyes grew worrie at Stefan´s tone.

"Yeah, I got the text this morning. Stefan what is going on?" Elena had wanted to come over immediately after they had gotten the call from Rebekah, however Stefan had insisted she stayed away for a bit.

"Listen, I will explain it all later, but for now you need to leave." He pulled her towards the door.

"What, why?"

Stefan sighed and turned to face her. "It´s Caroline. She can´t..." before he could finish though, Caroline had already provided the answer herself. In a flash, and with her fangs popping out, she was onto Elena, biting into her neck without any restraint. Stefan heard the sound of a cup or something shattering behind him before Tyler came to pull Caroline off Elena. "No! Caroline! Don´t!" The sight of Elena´s bloodied neck snapped him out of it.

While Tyler struggled to hold Caroline back, Stefan whisked Elena away towards her car.

"Get away. We´ll take care of her. okay?"

"Okay" Elena nodded in shock, barely able to drive but smart enough to know that she had to get going.

As soon as the car was out of sight, Stefan sped back to Tyler and Caroline. They were crouching down on the floor, Tyler holding her firmly while whispering soothing words into her ear, however she kept on struggeling. Before Stefan could move in to help her though, she had gotten out of Tyler´s grip and was out of the door before anyone could react.

She was gone.

They had spent almost two hours searching for her in the woods, where they had lost her scent. They called out to her but got no reply. They arrived at a clearing and looked around for a bit. Finally, Tyler spoke.

"So, what´s the back-up plan?"

"Back up plan?" Stefan was not sure what Tyler meant.

"What if this talking it out and stuff thing won´t work. What is plan B? Is Bonnie going to do a spell or what is the plan?"

Stefan stopped in his tracks, remembering the brief discussion with Damon from the other night. Only, how was he going to tell Tyler about that. After a brief moment, he finally said.

"There is no Plan B."

Tyler´s eyes grew wide, but he quickly regained his composure. After that they went back to searching silently with the exception of calling her a few times. There was not much to discuss anymore.

They found her under a tree, with a dead bunny and a dead fox beside her. She had drained them completely. She was sitting with her back against the tree, tears were running down her blood-smeared face.

"Did I kill her?" she asked quietly.

"No, you didn´t." Stefan returned in a soothing voice.

Then she broke into sobs. " I am so so sorry. Suddenly I smelled blood and I ... " Tyler had his arms around her in a flash.

"We know, Care, okay. But Elena is fine. And you´ll be fine, too. This won´t be easy for you, but you´ll get through this. " Stefan told her.

"What if you don´t." she asked back crying. Suddenly the entire forest seemed muted.

" We will. And if I personally have to kick your ass through it all." Stefan looked at her with the most serious face he could muster, hoping it would get him the effect he was aiming for.

It did.

Suddenly Caroline laughed. She laughed so hard that if you only heard the sound you´d think she´d be a little kid enjoying life. "You´re going to go all serious-vampire face on me?" Despite the laughter, tears were still running down her face.

"Yup." he said, with a funny smile.

Tyler did not get that insider joke, but he got that she needed to laugh badly. And he was relieved that she still could.

"C´mon Care, Let´s get you back to the house." he pulled her up and held her hand all the way back. Despite her laughter outburst, she was still shaky. She felt as if she was as fragile as glass. So Tyler finally scooper her up in his arms and carried her.

They met Damon at the front door, who looked like he had been drinking all night. Stefan was at his throat in a flash.

"What on Earth were you thinking texting Elena?" he snarled.

"What are you talking about? I was out as in knocked out all night because Klaus snapped my neck." He winced, hating that he had to bring up the guy in front of Caroline. Then he noticed the blood all over her face and he was sure he could smell that some of it was Elenas.

"What happened." he asked with darkened eyes.

"Elena came by to drop something of for Caroline. She said you texted her. Then all of a sudden, Caroline... "Tyler explained, letting Caroline gently get back on her own two feet.

"I bit her." she said darkly, meeting his gaze in a shamefull look.

"She´s okay. Elena is fine." Stefan added quickly, releasing his brother. "But why would you tell her to come and meet us?"

"I didn´t. I told you I was out all night. Klaus had snapped my neck." They all looked at each other in horror and realization.

"Where is your phone now?" Caroline asked in horror.

Damon frantically went through all of his pockets, until he found his phone in his breast pocket. Along with Caroline´s.

"Klaus." he cursed, kicking the air around him.

Caroline grabbed her phone from Damon, wondering why Klaus would use Damon to get it back to her, but relieved to have it back.

"I´ll go and check on Elena." With that he was off. Tyler and Stefan brought Caroline into the kitchen. "So, how about you take a shower and we... whip up some waffles and maybe some orange juice?" Stefan offered.

"Sounds great." she said with a smile that did not reach her eyes.

"Care, don´t let him get to you. Okay? Damon and Elena are both okay. Focus on that, okay?" Stefan said, putting a hand onto her shoulder.

"Okay." The smile had improved, albeit slightly. She looked up at Tyler, and he gave her an encouraging nod.

Her phone buzzed with one new message just as she was heading upstairs. She turned to read it. Then froze.

"Care, what is it?" Tyler asked, although both, him and Stefan, immediately knew whom it must be from.

Tyler moved closer, slowly taking the phone from her, noting how pale she had turned.

_"Morning Love, I hope you enjoyed the breakfast I made. Enjoy your day. Klaus."_

"That basterd" Tyler yelled, punching the nearest wall. Stefan looked grave.

Caroline leaned against the door frame and closed her eyes, to suppress the new tears that she felt forming. She was getting tired of crying. Even more tired of it all.


	10. Everyone around me

For a few seconds no one spoke. Caroline didn´t mind the eerie silence all that much, given that there really was nothing to say about the situation. She just kept staring at her phone, hating that the honest answer to Klaus´ rhetorical question could hurt her to the core.

Tyler glanced at her from the side, his fist healing from the abrupt and harsh contact it had made with the kitchen wall. He wanted to kick Klaus to pieces. Every single urge he had had prior to his werewolf gene getting triggered that had made him beat up a kid in school suddenly came back, demanding that he´d take action. Demanding that he´d get retribution. He hated that the old Tyler came back, the one that was just a dickhead. But even more so, he hated how the new Tyler might know exactly what not to do in order to keep Caroline save, such as not listening to his old self, but the new and improved Tyler had no clue what to do for her either. He could just look at her and hope some sort of magically soothing words would form in his head. Only they didn´t. Not as long as Klaus was around.

Stefan was the first to recover. After all, he had been there before. Though the relentlessness with which Klaus was going after Caroline´s sanity made him shiver. "Care, listen... I know you´re freaking out right now. But please, don´t. Don´t let him get to you."

"How do I not let him get to me? He baited me into biting Elena. He snapped Damon´s neck so he could send me a freaking text. Lord knows what he´s going to do next." She looked at Stefan, her eyes secretly pleading for him to give her a miracle solution.

"I know. But that´s what he wants. He wants you to feel like this. Trapped inside his sick mind games, so that you´ll either give in or do something really really stupid. But you´re not stupid, Caroline, so think. " He moved towards Caroline and placed a hand onto her shoulder. "Focus"

"On what?"

"On what you want to happen next."

"You mean like you did when you decided to go coffin-napping?" She knew Stefan was trying to help, and she felt guilty for saying it, but ... it was the truth. She did not want to start another war with Klaus, or any other original.

"No. That was not me thinking. That was ... Katherine. I should have done something else. I felt like between lying low as he had probably anticipated me to do and enraging him, I should have looked for an alternative. I still believe that offense was the best defense, I still believe that part. But what I wound up doing, ... you know what that lead to... Which is why you need to think. What do you feel like doing?"

"Running." she said without hesitation.

" Now tell me, why you´re still standing here."

Tyler observed them quietly, knowing that once again he just had to be quiet and supportive. He was not good with being stuck in the backseat, but he´d try. For her, he would.

"I ... It´s ... that´s what he wants me to do. ... And Katherine already tried that. And I am not nearly half as good with running as she is. But ... then he´d still be able to go after you guys... and after my Mom. So sooner or later he´d make me come back again, or he´d come after me and get me, which.. puts me back to square one. "

"So ... no running?" Stefan asked, needing to be sure of her answer.

"No. Running." Caroline sighed.

"Okay, then how about this. I´ll go back to making waffles and pancakes and anything else I can think of. And while I am busy making you a feast to help you fight your other hunger, you will sit at the counter and think. Don´t say word, just think. Think of what you could do, think it through. Think of something else. Think of what you need. There´s paper on the table, you can make a list. Tell me what you want to do when you´re done thinking, ok?" Without waiting for her reply, he went back to making pancakes.

Caroline looked over towards Stefan, knowing she had no other choice but to take his advice. Which apparently was to give herself advice. Suddenly she looked up at Tyler.

"Tyler... would you mind if, ..."

"... I leave you two to talk? No. I get it. ... Don´t worry. I really do." He gently kissed her on the forehead.

"I don´t want to push you away, but... it´s just... he knows..."

"Care, relax. I do get it." He kissed her lightly on the mouth and then left. He had thinking of his own to do.

Rebekah heard her brother in his study, sometimes she heard him sketching, and even though that still meant that he was in a bad state, it sort of soothed her nerves. The scratchy noise meant that he had his humanity still turned on, for which she was glad. To be honest, him being at home, made her happy altogether, him going out was something she dreaded. Ever since the Caroline incident, he had been quiet, avoiding her. Then he had gone out, dragging an unconscious Damon behind him, only to let him go with no apparent harm the next day. After that he had been scarily gleeful for quite a while, until he suddenly - at least from the sound of it - destroyed his entire study. He might not be able to harm her physically, but still, she was scared to find his humanity gone for good if she went upstairs. But now, he was sketching again, she considered it a good sign.

Klaus had always had a Plan A, B, C and D. But he had also always been a meticulous improviser. Truth be told, he preferred improvising, as he found, his improvised plans and reactions always terrified his enemies more, than his original designs. Like when he tried to sacrifice Caroline and Tyler, and wound up killing Elena´s aunt instead, while later turning Tyler into his first Hybrid. Had he killed Caroline that night, he might sleep better right now, but he would not have this feeling of anticipation, this predatory sense of there being a future when she will be his, and she´ll be happy. He hated that he had to make her fear him, for he loved the carefree way in which she always told him the truth, but well... he had made an error. He should not have tried to force her hand. He was still sure she´d be a great ripper, but he should have waited. For now, he was going to be forced to force her hand for a very long time, instead of the short time he had expected he needed. Briefly, he considered abandoning her, only he couldn´t. He found her unique, he had a reputation to uphold and plus, he knew better than anyone else about the effects of time. He could be the monster she feared for a little while, and enjoy her company and then slowly earn her loyalty. Or he could go and spend an eternity without her. That, he no longer could. Because he had been right, her compassion was going to get her killed, if no one kept watch on her. Because he hated the idea of her being with someone else. Because it felt like he had waited a millennium to finally meet a person that is one of a kind, just like him. Because, even at his worst, she made him be just that tad bit human, made him live this weakness that he had never dared to live out before. Because if he could have her, he would finally feel less like an abomination and more like someone worthy of happiness. It felt like her loyalty, was the key to his loneliness. And he´d play dirty for as long as he´d need to.

Finally, Stefan was done, watching him do all of this cooking had started to make Caroline´s stomach growl. He had even started to whip up a batch of muffins. "There you go." he said, with a huge, uncharacteristic grin on his face.

"Finally!" Caroline lunged for her pancake. And for a few minutes they were just eating, and eating and eating. Enjoying the smell of home-baked food and avoiding how it was only doing half the job of calming down that other hunger. For now they just enjoyed.

This time, Caroline was the one to break the silence. "So... I´ve been thinking."

"And...?" Stefan said, chewing on his pancake.

"So... Klaus wants me on blood. But I want to be around my friends and my mom without putting everyone´s life in jeopardy all the time. So I am going to fight this."

"Good." Stefan smiled. He knew he´d get her back on track. At least far enough to be ready to fight.

"But... I need some answers first."

Stefan looked up, slightly confused, sensing her hesitation.

"What do you want to know?"

Caroline started chewing on her lower lip, as she hated herself for what she was going to ask.

"What is it like to be ripper?" Suddenly, all the easiness that had just been there was gone.

Tyler came back at dawn, with a cheerful grin on his face. He found Stefan in the lobby. "How is she?"

"Resting, she´s worked through a lot of things today." he responded, looking up from his newspaper. "What got you so happy?" Tyler was about to answer, but was interrupted when Caroline came down. "Tyler?"

"Hey, how are you?"

"Alright, I guess."

"Look, how do you feel about going out with me?"

"Tyler... I ... that´s really sweet of you, but you know I am not fit to go to the grill or anything . Not yet." A frown appeared on her face.

"No I meant, more like how about a movie night at your place. I talked to your mom and she´s sleeping at my place. We thought... you would like to wake up in your own bedroom just for one morning. You get some more of your clothes, we could have some ice cream and... maybe being around a familiar environment ... helps with the motivation." Tyler had been so sure about his idea, but suddenly he was not. Maybe it was really too early. Maybe it was not enough.

Caroline suddenly lit up, but shot a quick look to Stefan to get his opinion.

Stefan said "You know, I think this is a good idea. But get her back here in the morning."

"Will do." Tyler said, while grabbing Caroline´s hand to lead her to his car. And for the first time in a long time, Caroline giggled.

They had called him as soon as Tyler had entered the Forbes house earlier that day. They had called him again, once he returned with her. At first Klaus had told his hybrids to stay put, then he slowly got up and took a slow walk towards the house. He dismissed his hybrids - for the night at least - upon arrival, and slowly moved around the building, trying to figure out where they were without getting noticed immediately. At this moment, he did not really mind that Tyler had broken the sire bond, as he was less likely to sense him now. He found them sitting on the porch bench. She had her legs across his lap and they were eating ice cream. Klaus clenched his fist when he noted how relaxed she was when she leaned into him. But he enjoyed looking at how beautiful her smile was, so he decided to keep quiet for just a few more moments. Just for that smile.

"Tyler, this is really, really, really great." She said, while eating her ice cream.

"You deserve it." he smiled, but then his eyes turned a little bit more serious.

"Look, I know we talked about this, but... I just want to tell you again, how sorry I am."

"Tyler, I told you it´s okay." She intertwined their fingers, loving him even more now.

"Yes... but no, it´s not." He placed the ice cream next to his legs and put his free hand on her cheek.

She sighed. "Tyler, we´ll make it okay. You know that, right?"

"I do... I just... I ... I feel horribly for what I nearly did that they."

"I know. But if am supposed to move past everything that happened, I need you to move pass your guilt right now."

Tyler looked at Caroline for a moment, feeling amazed by her. He had once told her that she is what he loves about his life. That was still true. He gently he placed a kiss onto her forehead. " I love you."

She started to laugh and was about to kiss him, when a familiar voice froze them both in place. "I would watch, if I were you. Wouldn´t want to smear around all of that delicious ice cream."

The both turned to look up, to find Klaus leaning against the porch right in front of them. Tyler instantly tried to get up, but Caroline quickly place her arm on his shoulder, motioning for him to not do something rash.

"Good evening, love. How are you?" Klaus gazed down at her, with his signature smirk spread across his face.

Caroline looked up at him, and after a second of fear, slowly picked up her spoon and went back to eating her ice cream. "Go. Away." she said, staring back into his eyes.

"No. That would be too much of a risk. For you. Given that you are cuddling up with a werewolf. He might decide to bite you again, and then... you might suddenly really want me around."

Tyler moved to punch him, only to be held in place by Caroline. Klaus chuckled, revelling in having gotten a rise out of the mutt.

"I won´t because I don´t need to listen to you anymore."

"Oh, you do. Because sired or nor, I am still the alpha-male. I am still stronger than you and you don´t really want to ... anger me, do you?" Caroline hated how arrogant Klaus sounded.

Stubbornly, she continued eating her ice cream, while scoffing at Klaus. "How about you tell us what you´re here for already, so we can get the You-part over with, and continue our evening."

It took all of Klaus´self-control not to lung at her for her dismissive tone, but he managed to smile sweetly and simply say. " I am here for you."

"Not going to happen." Tyler growled.

"That´s for her to decide, mate."

Caroline got up in anger, shoving Klaus closer to the edge of the porch. "What do you think, that after all of the things you´ve done, I am just going to come with you? Are you out of your mind?"

He smirked, looking down at the ice cream that was now on the floor.

"No, but I think it would be in your best interest." He said pointedly.

It took her a second to read between his lines. Suddenly she got very tired.

"Who are you threatening now?" she sighed.

"No one. Yet. But that´s not what I meant, love." he reached to touch her cheek, but instinctively she took a step back, taking Tyler´s hand in hers.

"Then what do you mean?"

"Remember what I told you about collateral damage? How long do you think it´ll before you´re back to being the scapegoat. You think Tyler here can keep you safe? Or maybe you want to hid with the Salvatores? Because I can promise you for as long as avoid your darker side, as long as you refuse to embrace your vampire side, it´ll happen again. Unless someone keeps you safe."

"And I suppose by someone you are referring to yourself?"

"I mean well. You might not get it right now, but I do mean well. Just take a chance." He held out his hand for her to take, just like he did at the decade Dance.

Caroline simply took another step back, away from him.

In a flash Klaus had Tyler pinned to the wall, his hand clutched around his heart.

"Sweetheart, in case you haven´t noticed. Now I am threatening someone."

"Caroline ... Run." Tyler tried hard to breath, while Klaus gave his heart a light but painful squeeze.

"Let him go." She flashed next to them.

"Now... where´s the fun in that?"

"Let him go."

"You and your little mantras, always so stubborn." he smiled at her, and suddenly she feared for Tyler´s life.

"Don´t kill him. Please." A tear came streaming down her face. Klaus wiped it away with his free hand, feeling just like he had back in his mansion, when she had been stuck with him. He felt sure of himself.

"I won´t. But you´ll owe me."

"Caroline. No." AtTyler´s outburst, Klaus gave his heart another squeeze. Caroline looked at them, afraid for Tyler, afraid for herself. "Fine."

He let go of Tyler immediately, beaming at her. "Now that was not too hard now, was it?"

She turned look away, out into the streets. It felt like she had just sold her soul to the devil. Only Klaus was worse.

"Now... I know I could take you back with me right now, " he said, slowly coming up behind her as her shoulders stiffened. "But since I only have one wish, I think I will wait a little bit more and think about what I´ll have of you in return. Enjoy your time with my hybrid. I got a feeling there won´t be that many left". He nodded at Tyler, who was lying on the ground with his chest slowly healing. Then he turned to leave. He had made his point. For now.

"Klaus!" Caroline called after him.

With a surprised smirk he turned in his tracks. "Yes love."

_Think of what you want. Think of what you need._ As Klaus came back towards her, all Caroline focused on was her conversation with Stefan.

Klaus had no idea why she called him back, but he intended to view it as an invite. In a smooth movement he had both of his hands around her waist, ignoring Tyler´s agonized growl. "What´s on your mind, sweetheart." He breathed in her scent.

"You know, one of these days we will find a way to get rid of you." He shoulders stiffened at the proximity and she tried hard to not lose her words in her throat.

"You mean, in a very distant future, when Damon Salvatore has finally stopped being head of the planning comittee?" he smirked. "What about that?"

Caroline exhaled. Then locked her gaze with his "I just want you to know that when that day finally comes, I will throw a party. To celebrate. And trust me, we´ll have a blast."

His grip tightened at the sound of her voice, which was a combination of sweetness and venomous ice. "We´ll see" he hissed into her ear.

He was gone in a flash.

Caroline calmed down her breathing, knowing that he would be back sooner or later. This wasn´t over.

She turned to kneel next to Tyler. "Are you okay?" she asked, worry in her voice.

"Yeah it healed, but... what the heck was that all about? You realize that he is going to hold that favor over your head forever? How could you do this?"

"He would have killed you."

"Care..."

"No... listen to me, he could have killed you." She slowly got up and sat back onto the bench, reaching for Tyler´s ice cream. She needed it right now. "He´ll come back. He´ll use his favor and every other scheme he has up his sleeve, and I can´t be grieving for you when he comes back for me. I need to know your safe. I need to focus."

Tyler sat down next to her, shyly taking her hand. "I know... I just... I hate the idea of him being near you. "

"Me too." she gave him a sad smile.

After a moment of saying nothing, he finally asked. "So ... what is the plan now?"

She took her phone out of her pocket, while cuddling closer into Tyler´s chest. "Hey... it´s me. Listen, I need you to take me to Chicago tomorrow."


	11. They say my time is running out

They´d been on the road for about 6 hours of their approximate 14 hours drive without either of them having spoken a word. Caroline had been reading a book for most of the time. Her companion had been driving. All the while, they´d been listening to a strange 1920´s mix-tape, which Rebekah had insisted on putting on repeat.

Elena´s words were still very much on her mind, as she kept flashing back to the video chat she´s had with her and Bonnie this morning, before she had hit the road.

_"Care, are you sure this is a good idea?" Elena had asked. _

_"Yeah. Don´t take this the wrong way, but you are not exactly fit for... public places, so you know, whatever it is you plan on doing in Chicago cannot be in crowded environments." Bonnie added with concern, for her friend as well as for the people of Chicago._

_"I know, and I am only planning on hitting up two places, neither of which should be a problem."_

_"Is there anything you need, anything we can do?" Bonnie asked then. Hating that Caroline could not talk to her in person, but proud of her for dealing with the blood situation as maturely as she can. _

_"I am not sure."_

_"Care, c´mon. We´re your best friends, you can trust us." Elena said soothingly._

_"Are you trusting me? I mean.. I freaking bit you." Caroline replied sadly, still regretting her earlier actions, although she knew that she was not to blame. He was._

_"Of course. You did not mean to do it. I mean... yes, I am not happy with your travel plans, your company is ... just a very odd choice. But if you promise me to be careful, I... we will support you the best we can." Elena said, with her usual save-the-world-enthusiasm._

_"I promise."_

_"So... what do you need?" Bonnie asked._

_"Well... there is something you could bring to the boarding house before I am taking off in the morning. I´ll be leaving at 4 though, so you´d have to somehow get it there now, I guess. Maybe Bonnie should pick it up at Elena´s and drop it off, since Alaric is still out there... Oh... gee, I forgot all about him. I am sorry, I should not have asked... I..."_

_"Care." Elena interrupted. "Shut up and just tell us what you need us to deliver." After that Caroline smiled._

The same she did at the memory, especially at the girl talk part that had followed. She had really needed that.

"So... how do your friends feel about our little road trip." Rebekah asked, sensing that the time would finally be right to talk.

"Unhappy but accepting. Yeah, well.. most of them. Damon has me text him every two hours waiting for a sign of you killing me or torturing me or anything, so that he can tell me "I told you so." But the rest is ... handling it. My turn now. Does Klaus now about this?" Caroline dreaded the answer, but she was prepared for the worst. She had already been surprised Rebekah had agreed to accompany her in the first place, but she knew how complex, close and twisted her relationship to her brother was, and so he probably knew.

Rebekah hesitated with her answer, contemplating to lie for a second. She had no idea what book Caroline was reading, but probably nothing to flash out the possibility of her brother popping up any time soon. "Yes."

"Figures. " Caroline responded, though she did not sound mad.

" Why did you ask me? I mean, you know I am his sister. There was no way I could not let him know, even if I tried. He´d know. So ... why me?"

"Because you were there." was all Caroline said. Rebekah was not sure if "There" meant Chicago, the Mansion or something entirely else, but decided not to pry anymore for now.

"Is your brother going to ... be around?" Caroline asked, deciding that she might as well just ask.

"I don´t know. Honestly, I don´t know. But ..." Rebekah stopped before she said anymore, which she rarely did. She was not sure if she should tell her yet.

"But what?" Caroline eyed her from the side, a hint of worry in her voice.

"Nik only let me go under one condition."

"What condition?" Caroline shrieked, the favor she had been forced to promise to Klaus still on her mind.

"Nothing too bad, I promise. He just... Gee, there is no easy way of saying this. It´s a ridiculous idea anyway. "

"Then tell me WHAT it is." Caroline said with obvious irritation in her voice.

" Look, I don´t know where exactly you plan on going in Chicago, since you were not really giving me any details on the phone. Not that I could blame. I get it. But you will have to factor in one more stop while we´re there." Rebekah sighed.

"Why? Where?"

"I am not sure if Stefan mentioned it, but there´s a bar called Gloria´s. It´s actually where we all met back in the day. And anyway, he took the liberty of booking you as a singer there, for a 1920´s theme evening."

At that Caroline froze. _Klaus knew._ He was still at least one step ahead of her. Rebekah turned to look at Caroline. "Don´t worry. I don´t think he is going to be there. He told me to record it all on video and send it to his phone."

"He .. .what?" Caroline shouted, fear in her eyes.

"Sorry, Caroline, but that was the deal. I get to drive you there, he gets his souvenir, and I am not going to get daggered just because you have some sort of stage fright thing going on." Rebekah had meant it as a joke, but it did not work. Caroline had grown quieter and tears started to fall down her cheeks. It was like she had just shrunken to the size of a child.

Not understanding Caroline´s reaction, Rebekah decided to stop at the next gas station. When they finally had, she unbuckled her seat belt, and turned to Caroline.

" What is it?"

"He knows." was all Caroline said in return.

"Nik knows what?"

"Why we´re going to Chicago."

"What makes you think that?" Rebekah returned in confusion. She did not even know why Caroline had wanted to go to Chicago, and she was the driver.

"I need answers. Like what exactly is it, Klaus wants me to be. I´ve been feeling urges ever since Klaus blood-overdosed me. It´s like I am this hulk comic character. I am forcing myself to whisper and talk quietly all the time, because there is this urge to just yell at people. I can´t talk to my friends or to my mom in person, because I feel like harming them. I am like Stefan, only Stefan is broody, I am like a broken vase, and I am too scared to put all the pieces back together, because I am scared that if I am back to being strong, that might not necessarily mean that I will be back to being save for the people I care about. I need answers. This is scary, but I need to understand how this works, why it makes me react the way it does. "

"So why Chicago?"

"Well... I talked to Stefan, and he started talking about how in the 1920´s he´d kill all those people. I know that´s when he met you and Klaus, and since his stories are not enough... I need to see it."

"What do you need to see?"

" A wall. And before that I wanted to see this bar, I wanted to figure out what about that time made Ripper Stefan go extra Ripper on the world."

"So... let me guess. Said bar would be Gloria´s?" Rebekah said, finally putting it all together. So that is why Caroline thought Nik was always a step ahead. Because he really was.

"Your brother is a psycho. I mean ... Seriously. Does he really think that I´ll be doing a video performance for him?"

"No... but he does know that since he is probably going to dagger me for about a decade or two, I am going to make you." And just like that the two girls went back to being cellmates.

"So that´s why you insisted on this cd."

"You got about 8 more hours to rehears. And oh... there´s a dress waiting for you in my bag." Rebekah said, focusing on the people walking in and out of the gas station.

"You won´t have to make me. I get it. Okay. I don´t know why you agreed to this, but... you are trying to help me. Whyever that is, but you are. So don´t worry. I´ll do it. " Caroline sighed in defeat.

After about five more minutes of silence, she suddenly turned to Rebekah and said "Please tell me the dress is not blue."

"No... it´s black. And an original 1920´s dress. But it shows a tad too much back."

"Did I mention that your brother is sick?"

"Yeah... most of my brothers are."

And just like that the giggling came. For a moment they were friends. They were interrupted by a guy, who obviously worked in the gas station, knocking at the window on Caroline´s side. Without thinking, Caroline pulled it down and asked, with a slight smile on her lips. "yes?"

"Excuse me, but is there anything you need. Like gas, or coffee, or .. are you lost. Can I help you two ladies?"

Caroline realized too late that indeed he could, before she could stop it her eyes turned dark and her veins popped out, causing her to pull the man by his neck and bite him.

In a flash, Rebekah was out of the car, and pulled the man away from her, compelling him to believe some I-tripped-and-cut-myself-story and to forget everything else. Then she checked for other possible witnesses and to her relieve found none. She turned to Caroline, who sat in her seat, her vampire face still out, blood all over her mouth, shaking.

"He´s winning." she uttered.

Rebekah got back into the car, took a tissue out of her purse and began to wipe Caroline´s mouth. "No. If he was, we´d not be here right now."

Then she pulled out of the gas station.

After about half an hour, Caroline began reading again.

"What are you reading?" Rebekah asked out of curiosity, wondering what book could put a blood addict out of a relapse shock.

"Stefan´s diary."

That one certainly got Rebekah´s attention. She finally knew what Caroline had meant, when talking about "having been there." It was not where. It was when.

They arrived in Chicago at about 6, with Stefan already waiting for them in the Gloria´s parking lot. Caroline had told him to take a plane, so she could be alone with Rebekah. He´d been relucatant, but she had convinced him. Or rather she had told him to either fly there on his own or stay back home. As much as he trusted her in getting back to normal, her approach concerned him. His mind flashed back to their previous conversation.

_"What is it like to be a ripper" she had asked. Making Stefan stop stirring muffin dough without ever letting go o the spoon. _

_"Care.. what...?" He was not sure if she´d like the answer._

_"Please. Stefan. Just answer..." She had looked at him with such sad eyes. Stefan truly wanted to help her, but it suddenly occured to him that the only way out of this for her would be a walk through the dark all on her own. And as disturbing as that thought was, it bothered him even more to think that she may have already figured that out._

_"It´s... like an adrenaline rush. You feel power. Endless power. You think you can do anything, you feel free to want and desire anything and to just take it. It feels like there being no consequences whatsoever. It´s like driving a really fast car. Only you don´t see that you´re crashing yourself into a wall."_

_Caroline had looked at him, puzzled._

_"The first time you taste blood, you feel strong. And alive. After that, any life you take, it takes you away from wherever you were before. No matter how close you get to getting back, you don´t ever return entirely. At the same time, that´s the addiction behind. You start feeling different, so something makes you think that whatever problems you had with your old self, they´re gone. Like you´re better than before. And the more you kill the more you feel like you have been improved. Which doesn´t mean you´re happy, but you feel like your old troubles are gone. And even if you don´t. Like I said... the more you kill, the more blood there is, the more it takes you away from your old you."_

_"Klaus fed me four people." At that, Stefan snapped the wooden spoon in his hand._

_"So... what were you thinking to change about yourself?" Caroline asked, while Stefan got a new spoon._

_"You know, I´ve always been responsible and did the right thing. Not like Damon. He was always the... wild one. And as you know, all of that got heightened after I was turned. So when I went on a rampage, I started to feel removed from my old life. The more removed I felt, the more I started to laugh and smile and ... play with my ... food. Suddenly I felt wild and creative and free of any responsibility."_

_"Just like my... OCD. It´s heightened. And I thought that was a good thing, I mean, it helps me with staying focused on not killing people, or it used to. ... But..."_

_"... When Klaus put you on that blood rush, you felt like the OCD was gone and you were finally able to relax, no matter how much you hated it at the same time?"_

_"Yes." Caroline said, locking her gaze with Stefan´s._

_"Well... as long as you can still hate it at the same time, you haven´t gone overboard yet."_

_After that, Caroline had been watching him stir the dough for a few more minutes before she´d spoken again._

_"Thank you Stefan... " But they had both known, the conversation was not over._

Stefan just had not thought it would be continued in Chicago. But there they were.

He watched as Caroline got out the car with Rebekah, not entirely sure if her being with them was a good or a bad thing.

"Hey Stefan. Lovely seeing you, but too bad, we´ll have to wait with catching up. Caroline has to get ready for her performance." Rebekah told him abruptly.

"Her what?"

"Yeah, Nik would only let me go with her, if she performs at Gloria´s tonight."

"What? He´s here? This is a trap?"

"Relax. He told me to record a video on my phone and send it to him. So I suppose that means he is still back home."

"I know Stefan. That is sick and twisted and psychotic , but if I don´t... he´ll dagger Rebekah, and she´s already gotten daggered once this month... so I have no choice." Was all Caroline had as a comment.

"So you´ll be singing on my stage without that compulsion look on your face? That´s good to hear." a voice came from behind. Gloria.

"Good evening, Rebekah. Hallo Stefan. ... and I take it you are Caroline?" The witch extended a hand to her, which she reluctantly took.

"You came a long way just to talk to me."

"I am not here to talk to you."

"But you will probably have to anyway. However, not right now. You need to talk to a few musicians and get dressed. I am sure... " she turned towards Rebekah "Your brother has already picked out a dress for her. So.. how about all of us go inside. And we can talk when the show is over."

Rebekah gave Caroline a sad smile. Stefan went to the car and got their bags. They all went inside.

Almost two hours later, Caroline looked at her reflection in the mirror. The black dress was beautiful, and even though it showed a little bit of cleavage, it was quite modest up front, but Rebekah had been right about the backline. It was a tad too much for her liking as well. And boy, was Caroline nervous. Rebekah had stayed with her during the brief rehearsal, mostly to ensure that Caroline would not snack on the musicians or anything. But it was comforting, just as it had been necessary. And then it was already happening. Gloria announced her, and reluctantly stepped onto the stage. But as soon as the first notes of "Crazy Blues" were playing, she somehow forgot all about that, and just sang.. .and sang until her set was over, with a slight smile on her face. The crowd loved it, loved her. Stefan had never heard her sing before, but he was blown away by her. Rebekah, too, was impressed, but more impressed with Caroline´s ability to find a way to enjoy herself despite knowing that she was basically being Nik´s puppet at the moment. She envied her for being so able to enjoy herself despite all of that. But she was sure, that joy would be brief. She´d remember once the show was over. And Rebekah felt a little bit sad for her. And for her brother.

After the show, Gloria opened a bottle of champagne, mixing it with blood from a bag backstage. "Caroline, if you ever move to Chicago, ... you know, I would not mind having you sing here again." Gloria said, handing her a glass. "Thanks". Caroline said, not knowing what else to say. "No, you were really great, Care." Stefan said, patting her on the shoulder. "I didn´t you know you could ..." suddenly his phone rang, it was Elena calling.

"Hey." Stefan said.

"Alaric attacked Tyler."

"What happened." Stefan said, feeling Caroline´s and Rebekah´s eyes on him.

"He´s okay, Bonnie and Damon somehow interfered, but listen, Bonny´s Mom is back. And there might be a way to stop Alaric... "

Suddenly, there was the sound of glass breaking. Stefan turned around to find Caroline clinging to the bar, trying to hold herself up, with Rebekah right by her side, trying to help her.

"I need to call you back." Stefan said. As he hung up, he nearly managed to catch Caroline before she dropped to her knees.

"What did you do?" Rebekah yelled at Gloria.

"I am sorry, Rebekah. Your brother told me to do it."

"What... "Caroline tried to speak, but could not get out any more.

"It´ll be alright, dear. You´ll be okay, once you´ll wake up again."

Suddenly a wave of fear hit Caroline, telling her to stay awake, only the throbbing pain inside her head, the weight on her eye lids and the weakness in her limbs told her the exact opposite. Suddenly she was lying on the floor, Stefan hovering over her, telling her she´ll be okay... she felt Rebekah holding her hand as her eye lids began to flutter... until they were starting to slow down. And suddenly it all was dark.


	12. For you it s just a memory

Her body had not expected to regain consciousness vertically. When she opened her eyes to find herself standing in Gloria´s bar, instead of the backroom, she nearly fell to the ground, due to the unexpected anticipation of being up and standing. However, she was held up by two strong arms that steadied her. Her mind and her vision were still a tad blurry, but as she slowly looked up, the shiver running down her spine told her who was holding her at the moment. "What did you do now, Klaus?" she sighed as she gazed up at him smirking.

Caroline took in her surroundings, after taking a couple of steps away from Klaus. The bar looked different. The musicians were different, some of the photos as well. It even smelled differently. But it was definitely Gloria´s. She could see her standing next to the stage, talking to the musicians. Everyone around them seemed to sort of ignore them. Most disturbingly, there was no sign of Stefan or Rebekah.

"Are you enjoying your trip, love?" Klaus asked, taking a few steps towards, making her retreat further until her back hit the counter of the bar.

"Okay, Klaus cut the crap. What is this?"

"Gloria´s." he said casually, ordering two drinks from the barkeeper.

"I know ,but it´s not the Gloria´s I know."

"You´re right. It´s better." he commented, handing her a drink.

"Explain." She said, hitting him on the should in frustration, which only caused him to chuckle.

"It´s the Gloria´s I remember from the 20´s. It´s a memory."

"How...?" Caroline looked around in confusion. She could smell, and if she focused hard enough she could make out the conversations of the surrounding people. Even their heart beats, or the lack thereof. It felt so real.

"Well, Gloria gave you a bit of my blood together with a really strong sleeping potion. Thus, I can summon you into my dreams and thoughts, for as long as we´re both asleep. And the potion also draws out everything I want to remember, no matter how deeply it is buried. I can even make you taste your drink, if you were to ever actually have a sip, love.".

"You had me drugged? Wow... you really are psychotic.". On that note, she tried to back away from him .

Klaus immediately placed his hands onto her back, which immediately reminded her of how exposed her back was in that damn dressed that he had coerced her into wearing. She shivered at the touch. In a swift movement he had her pressed into the counter with his body, while keeping her back in place with his right hand. The left hand was still briefly holding onto his drink, before he placed it onto the counter. Then he started to slowly draw circles onto her upper arm, sending even more shivers into her body. "I thought you wanted a close-up experience of what the twenties were really like."

"No, actually I did not. So now that this is settled, how about you tell me how to get out of this psycho history lesson."

"But you did come here for a history lesson. Maybe not about the twenties. But about things that peaked during that decade. And I want to ensure you learn this lesson well. " He looked her up and down, before whispering into her ear "By the way, you look absolutely stunning in that dress."

"Why won´t you leave me be?"

"All in due time. How about a dance first, after all we do have a few hours to kill."

"No, thanks." Suddenly she pushed him off her and sped outside the bar, hearing a distinct chuckle behind her. Just as she rushed out of the door she found herself ... back at Gloria´s, bumping into Klaus.

"Love, this is my memory, and there is no outside the bar unless I want to remember an outside. Everything and everyone in here but you is a memory. I can make them do anything, I can change the scenery. And you won´t be able to leave her unless I remember a place for you to go to. So how about that dance now, love?" he explained gently. His grip on her tightening, reminding her that in this dream world, he was still a thousand years older and stronger than her.

_Stefan carried an unconscious Caroline into his old apartment, Rebekah towing behind him. He gently placed the girl onto his bed, and tugged her in, before making himself a glass of whiskey. "Did you know?" He asked Rebekah without looking at her, anger and worry in his voice. "No, I didn´t." she replied with exhaustion in her voice. And there was an ounce of anger reserved for her brother. He had never made her a pawn before, he had instructed her to do whatever it takes to have Caroline perform at Gloria´s, but she had not expected him to have Gloria witch-drug Caroline without her knowing about that. He had never kept her in the dark before, and it stung. Tough, partially she was relieved. Had Nik given her a sample of his blood with the instruction to give it to Gloria for the spell, instead of putting a hybrid on a plane to do the delivery, she was not sure whether she would have done it. _

_They both looked at Caroline, who so far had not given any sign of life other than a few shivery sounds a while back, which had them worried even more._

_Stefan finally looked at her, handing her a drink. "What are you still doing here?". Rebekah looked up at him, confusion all over her face._

_"Whatever Caroline came to do here, she probably won´t be able to do that anymore, once she wakes up. So you could go back to Mystic Falls. Why are you still here?"_

_Rebekah pondered over that for a moment. Stefan was right, whatever questions on being a ripper Caroline might have, she was sure they´d be answered, probably to her dismay more than to her comfort, once she wakes up again. She could go. Only, she couldn´t. Not yet. Not anymore. "We could try to help her?" she finally said._

_"How? You heard Gloria, she can only wake up if Klaus releases her from the spell or once the potion wears off. And given his fervent effort, I am pretty sure he is not going to release her until his full ten hours are up." Stefan sighed and pulled up a chair next to Caroline´s body. He had come along to help her, and instead he had let her walk right into Klaus´ next scheme. He had failed her, again._

_"What exactly did Gloria say again about the spell? There must be a loophole. There always is."_

_In annoyance Stefan repeated. "She fed Caroline some sort of knock-out potion that also contained drops of Klaus´blood. This basically enables him to drag Caroline into his dreams and memories for as long as she is asleep. And, even though she has not said it, I bet that this spell is not an average linking spell. I am pretty sure it has additional features that we don´t know anything about. But the basic concept is: All Klaus had to do was wait until Gloria confirmed having given Caroline the potion, then he only had to go to bed and summon her. So she is more or less stuck in his head right now."_

_Rebekah processed Stefan´s words, and suddenly a slight smile crept up on her face. "Call your brother." Stefan looked up. "What the ... ?_"

He held her as close to his own body as the dance allowed him. She had tried to wiggle out of his grip a few times, but after a few futile attempts she had given up. However, she was still avoiding his gaze or any form of conversation. Klaus enjoyed the moment nonetheless, he had missed being near her. And this time, the setting was infinitely more to his liking. "Wouldn´t you agree that this is a great improvement from a high school gym?".

"Not in terms of dance partners." was all she retorted, causing Klaus to frown. "Well, love. As much as I hate sharing, I think I might introduce you to an old friend of mine, maybe you´d like to dance with him instead." he said, with a smirk. Causing Caroline to look up at him with a huge question mark on her face. "But first, I think a small break is in order." With that he gently, but adamantly pulled her towards a table, pushing her into the sofa seat, placing his arm around her waist before she even had time to move away from him. "Now love, I think I´d like you to meet an old friend of mine. I think you´ll like him." Caroline looked up at the figure that had approached the table. "Stefan?"

_Stefan looked up at Caroline´s body, after having heard her whisper his name in something that sounded similar to shock. He wondered what Klaus was up to, but deep down he was relieved that he didn´t know. _

_Rebekah was looking at her as well, wondering the exact same thing. "What are you doing Nik?" She had an idea what Stefan was doing in that dream, that her brother had created. And the idea was not to her liking. They both shot a look at Stefan´s phone, hoping for Damon to call them back soon. _

Caroline looked up at Stefan, or at least someone that looked like him. "Hey, Nik may I join you and the lovely lady for a drink?" greeting Klaus with a radiant smile. "Nik?" Caroline uttered. "Stefan, meet Caroline." Klaus said joyfully. Stefan held out his hand, causing Caroline to look even more puzzled. "C´mon love, don´t be rude" Klaus teased her, once again stroking her back. Stefan shook her hand. "Did you just arrive in Chicago, because I thought I knew all beautiful vampire ladies in town." Klaus answered for her. "Yes, she only arrived tonight. She barely got turned half a year ago, and now she has left her small home town for the first time to join us for a night."

"I see." Stefan said, a klaus-like smirk on his face, which made Caroline feel even more worried about the situation. This was not the Stefan she knows, she was not entirely sure what exactly made him different, but she knew, it was not him.

Suddenly another woman seated herself next to Stefan, and without any further notice he plunged his fangs into her neck, giving Caroline a disturbing side glance. Caroline could tell that he was curious about her reaction, and she had a feeling her appalled look was not the reaction that had her flying below his radar. "Feeling hungry?" Klaus whispered into her ear as Stefan gave in to his thirst, seemingly oblivious to the world. Klaus pulled her closer into his chest, his lips brushing against her shoulders as he continued talking quietly. "You know you want to. Deep down inside of you there is something that longs for the taste, the rush, the... fun" Caroline struggled against him, as his lips briefly made contact with her skin. "Ssh... sweetheart, it´s okay. This is just a dream. It´s not going to hurt you, it´ll make you feel so much better. All you need to do is to enjoy this. And... " his hand brushed the curls away from her neck and rubbed against her veins. "... just like that, you´ll be fine again." Caroline slowly turned to look at Klaus, horror filling her eyes. It grew as she noted the twisted look he gave her. Suddenly Stefan pushed the woman he fed on down onto the table, causing her wrist to smash onto the surface right in front of Caroline. Then the scent took over.

_Rebekah and Stefan jumped as Caroline´s eyes briefly shot open, black and dark, with her fangs coming out, her nails dugging into the sheets of the bed as a single tear came down her cheek. "This is so not good." Rebekah managed to say._

"That´s better" Klaus purred into her ear, as her face slowly turned into demonic features. "Have at it, love."

Caroline felt it, the rush through her veins, the fever in her brain, the wanting in every fiber of her being. It called for blood. Demanding for her to give in. Suddenly Caroline remembered every dark and dirty dream she´s ever had. Dreams of kissing boys she was not supposed to think about. Dreams of telling people thoughts that even at her most honest she could never be mean enough to spit out. She had dreamed of staking a zillion times, she had dreamed of burning down the sheriff´s department to get to spend more time with her mom. She had dreamed of leaving her mom to stay with her dad. Hell, she had even had had one dream-turned-into-nightmare of making her father transition in order to save him. And of course, she had dreamed of killing Katherine and Brady. It was then, when faced with every single evil thought she´s ever had that Caroline realized one thing: She had never before dreamt about blood. Not until Klaus had made her. She felt herself slowly bending down towards the woman´s hand, she slowly started tracing her fingers along the veins in her arms. _This is not me. This is not me._ The thought kept ringing in her ears as her mouth neared the white skin. The voice in her ear suddenly stopped and its silence told her that she would have to make yet another choice right now. She has spent one week inside Klaus´ mansion, fighting herself and her thirst. But that was before she´s had her first blood high. Now, was an infinitely more painful story. And she did feel thirsty. So incredibly thirsty she might drain this memory woman dry.

Klaus watched her expectantly, keeping himself as close as he possibly could towards her. He had been waiting for that moment ever since she bit into his neck. He had been craving the feeling of victors that promised him a future with her close-by. He had been waiting for this very moment, when she would finally give in. First to the blood, then to him. Too bad he would not get to wake up beside her in the morning he thought, as he kissed her neck, anticipating the second her fangs would sink into her prey´s flesh.

Suddenly she jerked up just a slight bit and started to shiver, wrapping her arms around herself. Her eyes were closed and Klaus had no idea what was happening, until he saw it. Her fangs retracted. She _willed_ them to, which probably felt just about the same as when an average werewolf turned during a full moon. It looked atrocious.

_Stefan jerked up as he heard her screams, and watched her fangs retract. Rebekah stared at the scene in disbelief. "What is happening now?" Stefan uttered. Neither of them had any idea. But the screams were beyond agony. And Damon hadn´t called them yet._

Caroline fell back into the sofa, her forehead covered in sweat. She shivered, exhausted from the pain. She vaguely remembered having her wisdom teeth removed and the pain was nothing compared to what she just went through. What the hell had she just done? _Oh my God, what have I done?_ She looked up to meet Stefan´s ´mesmerized stare. "Well, Nik, she´s even more fun than she looks to be." Stefan said with an eerily approving smile before wiping the not-yet-drained woman´s blood off his face, licking it off his fingers. Caroline briefly locked eyes with the horrified woman, not caring if she was just a figment of Klaus´ sick imagination or real. She wanted to run before she had to deal with his reaction. Klaus had caught her just after she had sped out of the sofa and past Stefan. "My my, Caroline. Love, I am truly impressed. Willing your fangs to disappear, that is ... oh, sweetheart you have no idea just how unique that makes you." he said, scrutinizing her with an evil smile. "And once again, I am left with the dilemma of what to do with you. You know, I would really like us two to move past all of this, we could be happy. _Genuinely happy._ But you keep on surprising me. You keep in sabotaging THIS. As much as I hate to admit this, but for both our sakes, I might be out of my league here." His voice sounded sweet, concerned and evil, all at the same time. Klaus just loved teasing Caroline. He gently brushed a stray of hair from her face causing her to shudder away.

"You´re crazy."

Klaus sighed sadly. "Sweetheart, I am not crazy. I am inspired." His grin was a dark promise.

"What do you say, Stefan, care to help me out with this one?" he joked, weaving his hand through her curls as though as he was marking his territory.

Caroline suddenly felt Stefan´s arms on her shoulders and immediately froze. " I´d be delighted."

Klaus cupped her chin, and as he gently brushed the exact spot on her hand in which Alaric had staked a pencil - a spot he could find blindly every time - he whispered "Time for your history lesson, love."


	13. But for me it still lives on

_Stefan gazed down at Caroline, silently cursing himself for not having seen it coming. As he examined the vervain marks that had suddenly appeared on her wrists, causing her to let out slight whimpers at rapid intervals, he reached for his phone to reread the text he had just received from Bonnie. He had been contemplating his next move ever since. He couldn´t leave Caroline alone, he could not bring himself to entrust her into Rebekah´s care, neither did he trust Rebekah to take care of the task ahead. She was Klaus´ sister after all. However, something had to be done, in order to ensure that Caroline would not wake up to an even more terrifying reality. _

_"So, have you decided yet?", Rebekah asked as she entered the room, casting a worried glance at Caroline´s wrists. _

_"About what?" Stefan asked, not looking up._

_"About who of us gets to kill Gloria." She said. His head shot up. "How do you ...?" How did she know about that part?_

She was tied to a chair in the middle of the bar with their ties, which had been soaked in vervain before. Since she´s had her fair share of vervain attacks, it was not a completely new predicament, nothing she could not physically handle, however it was enough to keep her in the chair, which she was sure had been the idea behind it all. Every now and then she would let out a small whimper, once the burning became too much, but other than that she was okay, all things considered. At least she was until Klaus had come up behind her and started to gently massaged her temples. She had tried shaking him off, but then again, that had never worked out much in real life, so why would it work out in a dream-world controlled by the almighty hybrid himself? "Sorry about the vervain, love, but on the bright side, at least we´re not using pencils." he whispered into her ear.

He was displeased that he had to resort to such measures but he had not anticipated a baby vampire willing her fangs to retract, he had to admit he had underestimated her. Again. It was another thing he liked about her. Initially, he had thought a pleasant dinner in his favorite twenty memory with Stefan at his Ripper-best would suffice to unhinge her, now he had to improvise. Only this time, he had a wing man. He smiled as he watched Stefan take off his jacket, indicating that Stefan was going to invest himself very much in Klaus´ project. This was going to be good, he thought to himself, as his fingers caressed her temples.

Stefan propped up a chair in front of Caroline, placing it so that its back faced towards her as he sat down and propped up is elbows on it. "So, what do you want me to make her do?" He asked, casually sipping from his drink. "Help me help her" Klaus responded, knowing it would remind her of the moment when he had asked her precious Tyler the exact same thing. He would gladly turn everyone she ever cared about into her worst enemy if it would mean getting her closer to himself. Maybe it was time to drill that message in.

"What´s her problem?" Stefan asked, staring into Caroline´s eyes.

"You see, when she got turned, she got turned by very sloppy vampires, they never bothered to teach her anything, but to make things worse, she met this other bloke that taught her to feed off animals. So now she has this notion of not killing humans. It´s a pitiful state of mind she´s in." Klaus explained, never letting go off Caroline´s head.

"I see." and after a brief look into Caroline´s eyes he added. "What else?"

"What else what?"

"What else would you have of her?" Stefan asked matter-of-factly.

Klaus hesitated for a second, realizing that his memory of Stefan was more accurate than he may have thought it to be. "Everything."

"Well, that´s vague" Stefan grinned. "I need a few more details in order to cure our little patient here."

"I want her to be like you and me. A..."

"A Ripper. " Stefan´s grin grew more wicked. As he brushed away a curl from her eyes he said "Okay", making himself sound like an innocent bystander rather than a monster. "What else?"

"Well, she hates me. I did a few things to a few of her pals and now she´s being strong-headed, aren´t I right, love?" He said, lowering his head towards her ear.

Caroline was about to retort but Stefan interrupted them both, in a more commanding tone. "What else?"

"Well, the fellow she´s chosen over me, is equally as pitiful as her dietary notions. Frankly, I´ve never been the sharing type."

"What else?"

"She´s so good. So pure. Even a little naive at times. But mostly, she´s so grounded in her morals, I am afraid it clouds her judgment at times. And in addition it has jeopardized her life more than once. I want her to be safe. I want her to be reckless. I want her. All of her."

Stefan tilted his neck as he said "That is more than understandable."

"You don´t really think I´ll fall for that, do you?" She turned her head to look up at Klaus.

"Elaborate, love" he returned as he let his fingers brush against her chin.

"This is not the real Stefan, this is some sick, twisted fragment of your imagination, a ghost. Just like this is just a dream. So don´t think you can use this guy here to intimidate me. He is not real. None of it is." She said, trying to shake his fingers off, followed by yet another vervain-induced whimper on her part.

Klaus moved around the chair towards her side, and crouched down so that all he need was to turn her head a little to lock gazes. "You´re right sweetheart. None of this IS real. However, all of it was. This is not a dream spell, love, it´s a memory. You want to know the difference? The difference is that however much I wanted to I could not make our friend here talk about Elena Gilbert. You want to know why that is, because the Stefan of the 1920´s of course did not know Elena yet, so I cannot remember him to. This Stefan here is the real deal, only in a different phase. This is the original Ripper himself, my brother, my loyal friend and my wingman. I can control the scenario but my control over the people I remember begins and ends with me choosing their company. Everything after that, including their words and actions is up to them."

Caroline looked up at that other Stefan and frowned at the way he was watching her. "This might be a memory for you, Klaus, but it´s nothing but a dream to me. I´ll wake up and that´ll be it."

Instinctively, he pulled her closer and placed an almost innocent kiss onto her forehead. "Now, love, it won´t be." She slightly gulped at his gentle promise.

"You´re really something, aren´t you, doll?" Stefan said, causing both of them to look at him. Klaus look was more playful and entertained, Caroline looked tired. " You know, when we turn all of us is heightened. And after watching you forcing your own fangs to retract, I am willing to bet that in your human life you were some sort of function-organizing small-town girl struggling for perfection. Always trying harder than everyone, always feeling just that tad bit rejected by everyone else. Let me guess, the only thing that got you through was your sense for control and order. Life must have been pretty dull, right?" Caroline looked up at him, blushing at his accurate reading, telling herself that his was all Klaus´ doing, praying that this memory talk was just a hoax. It had to be.

"So you never went on a blood bender... you have no idea what you´ve been missing out on. It makes it all go away. You know we all have a thing as humans. Take me, I was a really boring and overly responsible nice-guy. That´s what got me through. But then I got turned. When I first drained a person, you know how I felt? Free. Free of all the possibility. I felt better. Wilder. More exciting. Feeding give you such a power rush that whatever used to hold you back, just evaporates. It´s good beyond description." Then he winked at her. "You´ll see."

While Stefan had been talking, Klaus had gone towards the bar, leaving his back to them as he had another drink, thinking about his friends words. All of his observations were correct, but none of it really helped him any further. He might still have her for a few ours within his memory world, but in reality he was running out of time. Once again he cursed himself for dropping the "perhaps in a year or so..." scenario in favor of his impatience. Now he was stuck being the villain. He remembered the point of no return. The moment he had succeeded in pressuring Tyler Lockwood into letting her feed off him. Never had he seen her look at anyone with more hate than in that moment. After that he knew, the only way he would ever be able to have her all to himself would be the hard way. It was the same issue that had ultimately arisen with Stefan, only in Caroline´s case he was not able to resort to compulsion. That would suppress what he wanted from her: Her soul. In over a thousand years, he had never faced any sort of an internal struggle when using force, duress and compulsion, and this little spitfire suddenly forced him to play the villain on her while making him mad at himself for it. It was infuriating. Infuriating as hell.

Stefan got up from is chair and approached Stefan at the bar, leaving Caroline to struggle with her vervain problem. "I know how you can get her." Klaus turned around and simply gave him an amused, yet hopeful cocking of the brow.

"Make her lose control." He answered nonchalantly.

"Already tried that mate, I fed her the blood of four people to send her on a bender, did not get me any further than one pleasant evening." Klaus explained casually. Like he was discussing the weather.

"Oh Nik, you´re going about that the wrong way. Entirely wrong." Stefan responded while ordering a drink.

"Remember all the things you said you wanted from her. How about you rank them and then tell me, which one is the most important one and which one you consider to be more a detail."

Klaus pondered over that, his eye never leaving Caroline, who basically was too nervous to say anything at this point. The Stefan she knew had by accident given Klaus pointers on how to break her, this Stefan was doing it on purpose. This Stefan was worse, too.

"You want her to drink human blood from the tap. You want her to be a ripper, just like us. You want her to forget all about that idiot she´s currently seeing. You want her forgiveness. You want her to be naughty and devilish. You want her to be safe and sound. You want her to be yours. ... Now tell me, pal. Which point on that bucket list is number one on the agenda. Once you figure that one out, the rest will just be details to figure out afterwards."

Klaus put down his glass and slowly walked towards Caroline, Stefan's words echoing in his head. He looked down into her deep blue ices while circling her chair. He wound up resting his hands and his entire body´s weight onto the back of her chair, exhaling deeply. "I want her." he said. It was true, everything else he could deal with later. Or along the way, but ultimately he wanted her to be his and his alone, once he had that everything else would fall into place sooner or later. Once she was with him there would be no more Tyler, at least in the end there wouldn´t be. He could get her to drink properly later, too. Not that he would stop trying now, but ultimately it was not a top-of-the-list priority. After that she´d turn into a ripper all by herself, while abandoning her morals all by herself. The second he had her in his custody, she´d be safe and sound from anyone. He´d never let anyone touch her. And ... after a few centuries, she might even forgive him. But ultimately, he wanted her all to himself. All of her. Forever. He needed it to be this way. He couldn´t go back to only having a few moments of failed albeit pleasant courtship. He hungered for her.

Caroline felt his breath on her shoulder and she swore she could feel her dead heart freeze until it was a thin, fragile crystal of ice. Dreading to be shattered.

"Well, " Stefan said. "Then take her." It sound like Caroline was a drink, not a person. And suddenly, out of nowhere and despite all of her weariness, she found her voice and there were a lot of things she had to say about what Stefan was suggesting. Only, before she could get the first syllable out Klaus hand had clasped around her mouth. "Ssh... Love. You don´t want to me to be distracted from carefully considering the doctor´s advice now, do you?". She shivered as his hand caressed her back. He had already decided. And she really hated that damn dress right now.

Suddenly, Stefan pushed himself off the counter and approached them, wrapping his fingers around Caroline´s curls as he stood before her. "Nik, I think she is scared. How about we give her a little show. It wouldn´t hurt to let her see her future, would it?"

Her heart was beating so fast. She wanted to yell at this other Stefan, but Klaus grasp prevented that. Behind her, Klaus´ face grew into a huge smirk. "Of course." was all he said before letting go of her.

She watched as Klaus and Stefan walked up a staircase, joining a memory of Rebekah at a table upstairs. From her chair in the middle of the room she could see everything that was happening upstairs. Even the brief wink Klaus gave her before he sat down.

"So Stefan, enlighten me. What makes you worthy of the original sister? She´s a pure vampire and you´re no more than... " Klaus always made insults sound like casual chit-chat.

"Don´t listen to him, Stefan. Nik´s an elitist." Rebekah said. Klaus smirked at that.

"And where is the rest of your family?" Stefan asked, pointing his drink at Klaus while having his arm around Rebekah.

"Well, let´s see. I killed most of them."

"But not all." Rebekah threw in.

"And you´re okay with that?" Stefan asked her with a hint of amusement.

"Well, we all had the chance to choose a side. I chose the right one." She said, placing her gloved hand in Klaus´ . "Eventually." Caroline immediately knew that he had chosen this particular memory for a reason. He wanted to deliver a message, and Klaus seemed to not just beam at Rebekah, but also at her. Suddenly a dark-haired men came towards the table. "Where the hell is my wife?" Caroline sensed trouble.

" I don´t know. I give up." was all that Stefan teased, leading Rebekah and Klaus to smile in amusement.

"You think you´re so tough. Hiding in your bar, drinking your liquor? A telephone call to the Chicago P.D. might set you straight." In horror, Caroline observed the feigned shock that was interchanged between Klaus and Stefan. "Ooooh" They all laughed. Stefan called down towards a young woman that stood close to Caroline. "Leila, Leila. Please, come here for a second." Great, now Caroline would know that girl´s name forever.

"Oh thank God, Come on. We´re leaving" the husband said, trying to lead her away from the table. "Oh no no no no no." Stefan said. "No. You´re sitting." The man sat down next to Klaus as the compulsion immediately took over. Leila went to sit next to Stefan. Klaus gave the husband a cock with his eyebrows, it send shivers down Caroline´s spine. He turned to look at Stefan, who suddenly took off Leila´s glove and took out a knife. Rebekah turned towards him "Stefan, don´t be mean."

"What the hell are you doing?" the husband asked in confusion. He winced as he watched Stefan cut into his wife´s wrist, catching the blood in a glass. The knowing smile on Klaus´ face was growing. Caroline watched in terrified fascination.

"Thank you so much, Leila. Why don´t you go and bandage that up." With that, Leila left. She went back downstairs, passing Caroline, who was sure Klaus had sent her that way on purpose, as the smell of blood was immediately reaching her brain. She briefly struggled against her vervained silk restraints.

Stefan pushed the glass towards the man. "I´d like you to join me for a drink." and Caroline could smell his fear. "What kind of sick freaks are you?" Caroline felt like he was reading her mind. She´d been wondering that question herself a couple times now.

"I said drink!" was all Stefan retorted. Klaus watched in amazed fascination as the poor man forced down a sip of his wife´s blood. " I didn´t catch your name." Stefan suddenly blurted out. "Go to hell." was the only answer the man managed, causing all of them laugh. Caroline felt like she herself was already there.

"Do you wanna live, sir?" Stefan asked.

"Liam. Liam Grant." Great, now Caroline knew that man´s name, too. Now she´d remember him as well.

"Liam Grant. " Stefan repeated. "Have another sip, Liam." Klaus chimed his glass against Liam´s, smiling like a little boy.

"Finish it" Stefan commanded as Liam forced his glass up again. Caroline felt sick at the scene. The entire table exploded into laughter. When the glass was empty, Stefan grabbed Liam and led him towards the stairs, followed by Klaus. Caroline watched as Stefan, Liam and Klaus came back down while the area with the table slowly faded to black. At the same time all the other people Klaus had been remembering had disappeared, everyone from Gloria to the bartender was gone now. It was just them. Stefan approached her first.

"Well, it was enchanting meeting you, Caroline. I hope, I´ll be seeing you around. Enjoy the rest of your evening. " He said with a pat on her shoulder and a smirk on her face.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked defeated.

"Most of it is just for fun, however if you are inquiring why I am helping my old friend here out, other than being a good mate and stuff, the answer is quite simple, doll." He leaned down to whisper into her ear. " You are just too much fun to break. You know, I am right. Once your control is gone, there´ll be nothing left of you but the girl your father never wanted you to be. I am sure we´ll all enjoy meeting her." After that, he gave Klaus a joyful smile as he dragged Liam out of the club. Then they were gone as well.

After that is was just him.

He moved to stand in front of her, engaging her into a silent stand-off. Her eyes were pleading with him, showing fear and fatigue. But also disgust and anger. His eyes showed confusion, desire, determination and also sadness. They showed a Klaus that did not know what to do next, even though in his head every move seemed so easy and clear-cut.

Suddenly he was behind her, telling her "Please, don´t test me" in a voice that sounded glum, urgent and a tad bit seductive. But mostly it sounded like the Klaus that told her she had to hold her breath and try not to move too much, when he had pulled out the pencils from her hands. Then he moved to take the ties of, releasing her from the vervain and the chair. Something about the way he did it, the abruptness, the finality of it, told her that there was no way out of this. In the end no fight she could ever put up would put this off long enough for her to wake up. She felt his breath on her shoulders and it was nearly killing her.

He was in front of her again, taking in her devastated gaze. In his mind he wondered whether he truly repulsed her so much that she was devastated even by the thought of him touching her. Slowly he pulled her up to stand, only to feel her kneed buckle immediately as the vervain was still affecting her. She was too weak to stand. He picked her up and carried her over to the pool table, gently placing onto the green surface.

In a flash, he was on top of her. He had gotten that far, but then he felt an emotion he had not felt ever since he had been turned one thousand years ago. Awkwardness. He had seduced countless women without ever using compulsion. Some of which had been swayed with gentle lies and easy gifts, others had been seduced by his dominance and by his inner wolf. Some had been already seduced into wanting him all on their own, others had hated him only to end up calling out his name later. He could to the same with Caroline. He could and probably would tease her until her body craved him all on her own. But something was off.

Stefan was right. If he took her, if he got her to give up her control for him, everything else he wanted for her would happen along the way. She started struggling against him, but he roughly slammed her hands down above her, deciding to stick with a routine she was already familiar with. One hand held her hands, the other trailed off to explore. He slowly started to place kisses upon her neck, silently promising her that after tonight she would never be at risk of being hurt again for he would be keeping her safe. He briefly grazed his teeth against her neck, wondering if she could also see those images of her as a blood-thirsty ripper. If she could she how magnificent and sexy she looked in this vision of her. His hand trailed down from her shoulder and seductively massaged her breast, and he wanted nothing more but to touch her in all the ways that Tyler would never knew how to do. His hand continued trailing down further south until it rubbed against her slightly exposed thigh. Suddenly all he could think of was bringing out her reckless, lustful side. Let her be naughty and dark in his hands, just for one moment. Let her be all she´s never been before. As his hands slowly travelled up her thigh, he suddenly heard her speak. "Please, don´t." She had never begged before. She had pleaded, demanded and argued, but she had never begged before. He looked up at her, not removing his hands from their respective positions, to find a tear running down her cheek. Slowly, he moved his head towards her, crushing her lips. Kissing her like a beggar, like a sinner, like he was her God, while moving his hands into her panties; eager to stimulate her into a frenzy. _One day she will forgive me for this, to, _he thought. After a few minutes of his lips not leaving hers and his fingers enforcing sensation after sensation upon her, he finally ended the kiss, as her body started to slightly move underneath his. He rested his forehead upon hears, waiting for ecstasy to appear in her still sad eyes. At first he didn´t hear her whisper, taking it for yet another suppressed moan. But then he heard her silent but clear. He looked into her eyes, their foreheads touching when she asked quietly. "Why do you hate me so much?". He thought he heard her hard shatter into thousands of tiny pieces.

He pulled back his other hand and let it crash onto the table, right next to her head. She closed her eyes in fear, waiting for the final blow. She had angered him, she had made it worse. She sighed in surrender, but could not bring herself to stop crying.

Klaus looked at Caroline. Did she really think he hated her? His mind flashed back to every moment he had with her. When he realized that the last time he had seen her smile, she had been sitting on a bench next to him, he finally felt an emotion that had been building up inside of him, ever since he had told Tyler Lockwood to feed her. Regret. She honestly thought he did. Hate her that is. And with all he had done lately, did she hate him to? The question was burning through his mind. As he looked down upon her, shuddering and crying, he thought about the scenario. He was about to take everything he had ever wanted. But all in the wrong way. He was breaking her, taking her light, killing her smile. He had to stop, he had to make her feel safe, he .. had to tell her how he felt. Everything. He had to apologize. He had to confess that she was his only weakness. He had to prove to her that he was not going to harm her, that he was not going to continue what he was about to do. He had to make her smile again. Suddenly it hit him that on that long list of things he wanted of her, he had forgotten to name the one thing that was on top of them all: Her happiness. For now, all he saw was her despair and her tears.

He opened his mouth to speak. He had to tell her. Now. "Caroline... I..."

In a blink of an eye, he was wide awake in his mansion, soaked in vervain and wolfsbane. Looking up, he met the ice blue eyes and the stupid smirk of Damon Salvatore. "Oh, I am sorry, did I interrupt a wet dream?", he said tossing Klaus his cell phone.

Klaus was hit by a wave of anger and regret. He had had only this one moment to convince Caroline that he would not have gone through with it. One moment to tell her everything. She would never believe him now. Damon had stopped him before he had stopped himself, and that damage now was irreversible. As he caught his phone, he noticed the words "Video deleted" on the screen. He looked back up at Damon, raging inside, ready to kill him, only Damon jumped at him and dived an ordinary wooden stake through his heart. Nothing that would kill him permanently, but knock him out just long enough for Damon to run. He quickly texted Stefan, enjoying his revenge on Klaus. "That´s for making me your messenger". He had thoroughly enjoyed the confused and exasperated look on Klaus` face after finding himself awake. That must have been quite a dream.

Back in Chicago, Caroline´s eyes shot open. She sat up and then let it all out. The anger, the fear. The terror, the shame, the heat. The heart break. All of it came out in a long, agonized scream that filled up the entire building and briefly froze the blood in Rebekah`s veins. Stefan just looked at Caroline, his expression blank. "What did he do to her?" _And would they be able to undo it?_


	14. There s nothing ever wrong

Rebekah remembered every mean moment she had had with Caroline. How she knocked her out when Nik had turned Tyler. How she had strong-armed her when Nik had fed him Elena´s blood. She remembered taking over the decade dance. She remembered leaving her to die at Alaric´s hands. But after having heard her scream her soul out upon waking up from her nightmare with Nik, she remembered feeling guilty about all of that for the very first time. She was gazing at the girl through the door.

She was sitting in a pantry, staring up at wall. Tears were streaming down her face as she was hugging herself. She switched between mumbling names and sobbing in uneven intervals. There was nothing left but sobs and tears in the shape of a vampire. It was the most disturbing thing Rebekah had ever seen.

Stefan was standing by the door, unsure what to do.

_She had screamed until her voice was gone even before her eyes had shot open. He had tried to calm her down, only for her to hiss at him. "Stay away from me." The look in her eyes had left him wondering what it was that Klaus had done in the dream and even worse, what it was that he had done in that nightmare she had been stuck in. His brain had registered her plea for distance, but his body had not responded in time. As he had moved to sooth her, she had jumped of the bed and ran through the nearest door. When her eyes had found his name wall in the pantry, she broke down, crouching herself into a corner, looking up at the names. Like she knew them all. Ever since that he had been pondering about his next move._

Caroline had read through all of those names uncountable times, while shaking with fear. She tried hard not to blink. Whenever she closed her eye lids, flashbacks of her on a pool table appeared before her eyes. The feeling of his hands all over her body never wavering. Never growing faint. It even felt like his lips were still glued to hers. Like she was still asleep. Finally, she dug her nails into her upper arm until it drew blood. The pain making her feel awake and safe in an odd way. She repeated that action a few more times until she heard steps on the threshold.

"It´s me" Stefan choked, looking down at her arms. The scene broke his heart.

"Are you going to kill me?" She couldn´t help but ask, mentally adding the thought that she wished Klaus had been that merciful on her birthday.

"Caroline, I am here to help you. Please, tell me what to do."

But she was out of words. She had given so many strong and grand speeches, she had stood up to the evil monster countless times, but now she was out of words. It felt like she could no longer talk.

Suddenly Rebekah was there, sitting right next to her. Holding her hands in place, so that she could no longer mutilate her arms. She thrashed in the older vampire´s hold, until she started to cry uncontrollably. They stayed that way until Caroline was too weak to move.

After a few hours, Rebekah whispered into her ear. "You need to trust him." Then she got up, giving Stefan a look that spoke volumes. Telling him to NOT mess this up. Telling him to fix this. Putting all the responsibility and burden on his shoulders. He knew where she´d be going. She was going to fix the rest.

Slowly, he crouched down onto the threshold, signaling Caroline that he was not going to come any closer without her permission. After that he waited.

It took Caroline exactly forty-two minutes to utter her next sentence. "Tell me about every single one of them." she said in a low voice.

Stefan looked up at his wall, unsure how to react. Ashamed to speak at all.

"Tell me about them or kill me already." she continued, her voice never rising. And then, he talked, starting a confession that was more hurtful than writing his diary or remembering it. Talking about every detail he had spent decades to forget. In the hopes that his honesty could save his friend.

After hours and hours of talking, with her only nodding at certain moments, he was done. With all of them. He had told her about every single kill, described to her how the person had looked and what he had done to every single one of them. When his tale had ended, Caroline looked at him with empty eyes. " A pen." she said. In a flash he went to fetch one, crouching back to his spot on the threshold, letting the pen slide towards her.

Her wrists wrapped around the object, like it was going to disappear any second. Slowly she pulled herself up, steadying herself against the other walls as she approached the list. As she was leaning against it exhaustedly, she added one more name. Caroline Forbes.

She turned to face Stefan, resting her back against the other names, leaving hers clearly visible. She gulped.

"Caroline Forbes was the girl your friend Nik brought to Gloria´s one night. You fed on a woman in front of her, after hearing she was a young , a very young vampire. You nearly made her join you. Only she didn´t. She managed to stop herself. Then your friend asked you to "help her" and you both restrained her with your ties, after soaking them in vervain. Finally you told your friend that if he wanted her, he had to take her. Like she was an object, not a person. And when the girl was scared and terrified enough you gave her a show. You forced Liam grant to drink his wife´s blood. Then ... you left her alone with your friend. With Nik." By then, she had wrapped herself into a ball against the wall, sobbing.

Stefan´s breathing had stopped. He felt a guilt that was beyond his years. "And " he swallowed "What did my friend do to the girl?" Not wanting to hear the answer, he looked up at her willing himself to listen.

"He placed her onto a pool table and sat atop of her. His hands ... he touched her... her shoulders first, then her breasts. Then he kissed her, ... but at the same time... he put his hands.. .. they... they went beneath my dress. Beneath all of it. I begged him not to do that, I BEGGED him, he only kissed me and ... touched me more. " Her voice had slowly turned into a whisper, into a shadow of her bubbly self.

"And now you´re awake and here am I, the man that had told him to do that you."

She slightly nodded.

"Care... you know that this was not me. I am no longer that Ripper. I am your friend, I am here get you through this."

"What if this was the twenties, what if this had been you then. Would you have ... done what you ... "not did"?" She met his eyes again, demanding the truth.

"Caroline, I..." he started, then swallowed his fear. He had to be honest to her now. "Possibly. Yes. It would have depended on my mood. I might have come up with worse." The truth was ugly. Just like the situation.

After a few seconds, Caroline spoke again. "Thank you. For your honesty." And then she had a fit of laughter. It was a sad, broken laughter directed at an irony Stefan couldn´t see. It was a laughter drenched in tears.

"Care, I am so so sorry."

"Stefan... how am I ever supposed to sleep again? Tell me that?" She broke down into new sobs.

_His thoughts trailed back to when Katherine had turned her, back to them being in a bath room trying to clean up all the blood from her face. The sobbing had been easier on him then, and she was calm enough to listen to him about how to control her features during a blood rush. But the moment that he could not shake off was her asking him "Why did Katherine do this to me?" Back then, he could only exhale and shake his head and tell her how it was "I don´t know. I wish I did." As she was starting to close her eyes in defeat, he had said those words to her, that were now imprinted onto his mind. "Hey hey. I promise you, I will not let anything happen to you." And after that, he had pulled her into a hug, believing his vow to her. _

He had broken his promise. Katherine had turned her into a vampire, Klaus had broken her. And none of it made sense, except for the fact that nobody had managed to help her. She had been left alone once again. Left to fend for herself against an enemy she had no possibility to understand. Once again something had happened to her under his watch, putting her name on his list.

He looked up once her laughter had ceased.

"What can I do to help you?" he whispered, desperate for an answer.

"Give me something to distract me."

As he pondered what to tell her, his phone buzzed with a message. Rebekah did have impeccable timing.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Hesitantly, Caroline followed Stefan back into Gloria´s. Unsure of what she was doing there, but grateful for the distraction. They found the with tied onto a chair, much like Stefan had been a few months back, with Rebekah standing over her.

"What is this?" Caroline asked with a tired voice.

"I told you, you´d be coming back to talk to me." Gloria responded sadly.

Caroline looked up at Rebekah in confusion, with Stefan staying out of her sight gratefully. "I don´t understand." She said slowly.

"You will soon enough." Rebekah told her softly, taking in the dried tears on the girl´s cheeks.

"They want you to kill me." Gloria said, causing Caroline´s head to jerk up in shock.

"Why? Because of the spell?... But I am awake now, it´s over." She stated, only to be met by silence.

"It is over, right?"

"Not yet", Rebekah informed her.

"The spell I put on you, dear, is tied to me."

"What do you mean?" Caroline asked, her voice rising.

"Nik can easily access your dreams again, the second you´re both asleep unless... "

"... the witch that has cast the spell disappears." Gloria finished.

"No... No... No." Caroline said, grabbing the nearest glass and throwing it against the wall. She stopped herself, as her hands landed on the table, upon which Gloria was restrained. After a few seconds, she fearfully asked "Why are you so calm about this?".

Stefan took it upon himself to answer. "There are two ways in which a witch can disappear. You can either kill her, or turn her."

"And if given that choice, any witch would prefer the first of the two." Rebekah added quietly.

Suddenly, all eyes were on Caroline, as Rebekah extended a knife to her.

"Why me?" was all she could ask.

"Because it is your fight." Rebekah said, placing a hand on Caroline´s shoulder.

"I don´t want to be a monster. I don´t want him to win" the girl mumbled.

Sensing her predicament, Gloria spoke up once more. "He´ll only win if you enjoy it."

"She´s right. Care. You need her dead in order to survive."

"Seriously? You´re giving me the survival of the fittest crap? Those are just bad excuses used by monsters to tell themselves they´re not what they really are."

"Don´t you see, girl? That´s where you´re only partially right. Of course, sometimes those really are just petty excuses for bad actions, but sometimes, they´re not. Sometimes they´re just facts. If you don´t kill me, he´ll always have power of your dreams."

"Please, no. This has to stop."

"Then make it stop." Rebekah said slowly, as she led Stefan outside. "We´ll wait for you to choose."

As they left, Caroline stared down at Gloria´s abused and beaten body. Rebekah had clearly pulled all the shot to get the witch into this vulnerable position, however she had been careful to not confront Caroline with any of Gloria´s blood by avoiding those type of wounds.

"I don´t want to turn you." was the first thing Caroline said, as images of Abby danced around insider her head.

"But you can´t release me either." It was not a question, it was a fact.

Caroline looked at the knife, not even knowing where to stab.

"The heart." Gloria whispered.

Caroline approached the table, while locking her gaze with the witch´s. "I don´t want to be evil."

"Then don´t let Niklaus win." Gloria joked sadly.

For a second time froze, as Caroline thought about Bonnie. That thought alone made her shudder away from turning Gloria. It was either killing her or releasing her. She had flashbacks of her and Bonnie talking about witchcraft, flashbacks of teaching Abby, finally she had flashbacks of a pool table. And then they got more intense, she heard Gloria whisper some chanting, increasing the intensity of the memories. The tears came back, and she heard Gloria yell at her. "Do it."

The words kept repeating themselves inside her head mingled with a shameful feeling between her legs and a feeling of abuse and helplessness. It only stopped after Caroline had plunged the knife into Gloria´s heart. Immediately the world around her went quiet. As she looked up at the dead witch, she saw a content smile playing across her lifeless face.

It was the scent of her blood, flowing out of the lethal wound, that cause Caroline to snap out of her trance. Her features immediately morphed into her vampire face, as she pushed herself of the table. She carried herself to the door and used all of her resolve to rush out, leaving behind the inviting blood of the dead witch. As she regained her composure leaning against a wall, she closed her eyes.

Rebekah and Stefan had been waiting, hoping that the decision to leave her to do it on her own was a wise one. During that time Stefan subtly while barely able to gather the words had filled Rebekah in on what had happened in Caroline´s nightmare. Now they were both anxiously waiting for Caroline to talk again.

When she opened her eyes again, she only said. "Let´s go home." Leaving them to follow her.

On their way out of Chicago, Rebekah finally decided to text her brother. "Your witch is dead." Before she turned her phone off completely, focusing on Stefan´s driving, and an exhausted Caroline drifting into a hopefully merciful sleep on the backseat.


	15. Too bad almost nothing is ever right

Klaus sat on the stairs, waiting for his sister to enter the Mansion, only looking up when the door had finally closed behind her.

For a second she merely stood there, looking at him, before she finally spoke "Hello, brother." It came out distant. Tiredly, she rested herself leaning against the closed front door, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"How was your trip?" he asked.

"Fairly educational." she gave back in her most snotty voice. It had indeed been educational. She had learned something about a line you don´t cross. She´d hopefully never cross. He, however, seemingly already had.

"You´re angry." he stated.

"You want to use someone for a pawn, use one of your hybrids. I am your sister, not your chess piece." With that she went upstairs, passing him.

"You killed Gloria because I kept a few minor details from you?"

" You drugged and mind-raped Caroline Forbes, brother. That is a new low even for you." With that she continued her way upstairs, leaving her brother sitting with a shocked expression. Even in his mind he had not managed to phrase a sentence including the name Caroline and the word "rape", hearing it out loud now, was like sobering up.

_What have I done?_ He could ask himself that over and over again, but it would not change the fact that he knew perfectly well, what he had done. It got even harder when his mind confronted him with the list of things he should have done instead. Or with the result of his actions so far.

"How is she?" he whispered.

"She´s fading." She responded. "And just so you know. It was not me that killed Gloria." With that she went to her room, leaving Klaus to grasp the damage he has done.

Stefan sat on Bonnie´s couch, looking at a confused Bonnie. "Where´s Caroline."

"Outside, in the car." he responded without looking up at her.

"Why won´t she come inside?"

"She doesn´t think you´ll want her to."

"Why?" Bonnie asked. When Stefan gave no answer, she added: "What is wrong?"

"Remember when you called me and told me that Gloria´s spell would permanently link her dreams to Klaus´? We found a way out?"

"You mean, you guys killed another witch?" Bonnie understood, but was horrified at the same time. Like knowing that of course it was the only way to help her friend out, but still it had cost the life of one of her own.

"We thought that it would help her if she did it herself." Stefan added carefully. Bonnie took that in. Now she understood why Caroline was hiding out in the car. "She remembers my initial reaction to when she got turned. She thinks I hate her now, doesn´t she?"

"Well, do you?"

"No, but... it´s a lot to take in for me, I ... I am a witch, too."

"I know. So does she." To a werewolf the death of any random other werewolf was nothing but that, just don´t kill their mate. Or their alpha. It´s the same with vampires. Witches however, were different.

"How is she?" Bonnie whispered.

"In need of her friends."

"So what happened?" Bonnie asked worriedly.

"It´s not my place to tell, I had to fill in Rebekah, but that is as far as I´ll go with that. But it was bad. Really bad."

After that they sat in silence, before Stefan returned to the traumatized girl in the car, praying that Bonnie would come around sooner rather than later.

"She hates me, doesn´t she?"

"No, but she needs time."

Caroline only nodded. The drive back from Chicago had been nothing but a daze which she spent lost in nightmares and dreamless sleep on the backseat. Rebekah had dropped them off at the boarding house before heading back to Klaus. She had not said a single word during the entire car ride.

"Where to next?"

"Back to your place."

"We could quickly stop by at your place, so you can talk to your mum?"

"Stefan, I am nowhere near stable enough to talk to her or any other human." Stefan sighed at that. She was right, the last thing she needed was the guilt for attacking her mom. So her home was no option, neither was having Elena over.

"Okay, we´ll go back to my place then. I´ll call Tyler once we´re there."

Caroline´s head shot open wide. "NO."

"Care..."

"No, Stefan. I can´t see him. Not after... I can´t. I just can´t. Okay?"

"Caroline, you need to talk to somebody. Your best friends and your mother are human, and as much as I hate to put it that way, we both know you think of them as walking blood bags at the moment. I can´t talk to you, because I am not sure you are seeing me when you look at me. I am sorry. I wish I could change that, but I can´t. You trust me, but you don´t trust me. That´s okay. It´s understandable. So that leaves either Tyler or Damon."

"I can´t face Tyler."

"You´ll have to eventually." They had come to stop at the boarding house. Caroline sped out of the car and into her temporary room, nearly knocking down a shocked Damon. Stefan tried calling after her. To no avail. So instead he picked up his phone. "Tyler, it´s me."

Tyler arrived about an hour after that. When he entered, he briefly looked at the brothers, before wordlessly rushing upstairs.

"So, what exactly happened to Blondie?" Damon asked dryly. Stefan looked up at him, but said nothing. Damon understood. At least enough to know that she needed to be protected from Klaus just as much as Elena did.

It took Tyler all of his courage to open the door to her room, especially since she did not respond to him knocking.

"Hey." was all he got out.

"Tyler, please go." She whispered. Caroline sat on the bed, her arms wrapped around her knees, her face hidden by her blonde curls.

Tyler moved to get closer to her, but noticed her shoulders stiffening. Something told him to keep up the distance. So he opted for a chair at the other end of the room.

"Alaric nearly killed me." he said quietly.

Caroline´s head went up, but she refused to look at him. Instead she looked past him. "Are you okay?"

"Bonnie intervened just in time. But going out at night is not really an option at the moment. Good thing he doesn´t have a daylight ring."

"What else happened." She asked, trying to dodge the real topic.

"Nothing much. Elena´s moving in with Bonnie, so Alaric can´t kidnap her. Bonnie said she´s working on getting that desiccation spell right, Abby said back at the school she just got a few small details wrong, but she should be fine the next time."

"Wait a second. She´s going to try that spell again? Isn´t that a bit too much magic for her in such a short time?"

"She said she´ll be fine."

Caroline only nodded, letting the silence fill the room again.

"Look Care, remember when we were at your house, I mean before Klaus showed up?"

She looked up but still avoided his gaze, her features turning more fragile. "You told me to move past my guilt so that you can move past everything else."

He slowly stood up, but did not move closer. " I don´t know what exactly Klaus did, but I know I should have been there with you."

"Tyler. There´s nothing you could have..."

"...done. I know. I still am mad at myself for letting you go there without me. I still am so angry at him for the stuff he did to you, to us, in his creepy mansion. Every day I have to bite down the urge to go there and strangle the guy."

She frowned. "Tyler. Don´t. Please... "

"Care. I won´t. I want to. I want to kick his ass so badly, but I won´t. Because you need me to move past that anger too. I am not dumb. I know that part of his is just waiting for me to do something stupid like going there and picking a fight with him. So I am trying to move past this. But, listen Care, I can´t move past something I don´t know. I know I probably won´t like it once I hear about it. I know you don´t want to talk about it. But I need you to move past his for me, please. You can´t be strong for the both of us, Care, you just gotta trust me that I can handle whatever this is."

Finally she looked up at him. "What if you can´t?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes.

Tyler had heard about this type of moment. When most girls expect their boyfriend to have the perfect answer ready. To tell them it´ll be okay. All of it will be. Before all this supernatural craziness had started, he probably would have said something along those lines. Thinking sweet nothings would make it all okay. He knew better now.

"I don´t know. " She only nodded at that. "But I know that I will try to." His eyes were silently pleading for her to trust him. And after thirty minutes of silence, she did.

It took her longer to explain, that it had with Stefan. She had no wall to look at, no name list to distract herself with. Just her emotional scars and the boy she wanted to keep in her life. It took longer. It was harder. It was painful.

When she was done, he was as pale as a ghost. His most primal instincts called for him to kill that bastard. His anger was amplified, his rage was nearly consuming him. Except for this one other thought. Her telling him that she can´t handle grieving him and dealing with Klaus at the same time. Right after that monster had had his hands inside Tyler´s chest. Except for the knowing humming in his head that told him that she needed him more than he needed his rage.

"Care. ... I... " But there is no sentence good enough to for this situation. They both knew that.

She woke up alone. Tyler had stayed while keeping his distance until she had fallen asleep, and then he had moved into another guest room. It was already dark outside. She could make out Tyler´s breathing in the next room, she could even smell is scent. She could not make out the Salvatores though. As she strode into the kitchen, she found a note. They were at Elena´s.

She sat alone in the kitchen for about an hour and listened to the continuous ticking of the clock, before she moved again. She took a piece of paper and scribbled down what the good Stefan, the one she used to trust, had told her. _What do you want?_

_A Life I enjoy. Klaus-free. Safe. Kind. Good._

_What do you need?_

She pondered over that for quite some time, before she lifted her pen again.

_Piece of mind. _

_My friends._

_My Mom._

_A break._

After looking at that list, she started focusing on the clock´s ticking again. It took her a while until she had cleaned out some of her head. Until she knew what to do. Then she went to the fridge and took out a bunch of blood bags. She emptied them all, she had to make sure she was not the least bit hungry. Then she texted her mom, to make sure she would not be at home. If she was going to be staying longer with Damon and Stefan, she´d need more clothing than the ones she´d picked up a couple of days ago with Tyler. Just like she´d need her books for homework and her laptop and her curling iron and most importantly, she needed to see the house once more. It was all about goals, and high up on the list was getting to go back home.

She knew going outside at night was not safe. But she had just recently learned that neither was being tucked into bed safely.

In her room she carefully picked out a few more clothes, and packed all her books. She grabbed her laptop, grabbed a few photos of herself with her friends and her family. She also grabbed her calendar. Then she went to her night stand to retrieve her favorite lavender note pad, for really important messages. Messages like "Your mother´s day gift is hidden somewhere in the living room." Messages like "Don´t forget to eat something healthy, Love. Your daughter." However, above the notepad, she found something else. A drawing. Of a young girl and a horse.

He had spent most of the day in silence. Painting relentlessly, thinking relentlessly. Nothing he could think up, seemed good enough. All of his thoughts revolved around that one moment when he had crossed the line. The moment before he had woken up to a smirking Damon Salvatore. He felt trap inside of his own mind. Clueless as to what to do next, who to be, how to be? What do say? Left with wanting nothing but the one thing he may have broken for life. Learning regret and awkwardness is not an easy lesson to learn. Learning them after a millennium of thinking that he had already experienced and felt it all, was crushing him. Her thinking that he hated her enough to destroy her had truly humbled him, putting his mind into a place it had never known was there. He wanted to comfort her, sooth her, protect her. Only, it had turned out the only thing she needed protection from was him. She´d never feel safe in his presence again. She´d never smile at him again. She´d never be herself around him again. He was no longer Klaus, who had murdered Elena´s aunt and turned Tyler but who had tried to be charming for her. He was Klaus, who had forced his egotism upon her until she nearly lost herself. For all he knew, she might have. After all, a witch had been killed.

Nothing interrupted his self-loathing but the ringing of the door bell.

He had expected it to ring. Tyler Lockwood was bound to stupidly come here, trying to get some frontier justice. And for all Klaus knew, he might even let him. Putting on his best smirk of a mask, he opened the door.

For a second his heart stopped, looking into her blue eyes. Seeing the fragility. For a second he got to look at her soul, at what was left of it in the wake of his destruction. She granted him a glimpse of all the raw hurt and all the damage, and of a light that struggled not to fade. Caroline looked so breakable, like a light breeze of wind could crush her. He found himself holding his breath. For her sake. He longed to hold her, to tell her that the monster was gone now. He honestly wanted to do nothing more but to keep her from breaking any further. Then she blinked.

And in that brief movement of her eye lids, the glimpse at her soul was gone. All that was left was blank determination, fight and her survival instinct. Without a word she thrust what she had been holding in her arms into his unexpecting hands, he nearly dropped it.

Her eyes held only one message: _You will not be the end of me. _

Then she was gone. So fast, he couldn´t even blink. He stared down at the box in his hands, instantly recognizing it as the box, knowing it would contain a blue dress made for an angel. On top of it lay his drawing. His thank you for her honesty. Everything good he ever had let her see.

There was an ounce of bittersweet relief at the thought that he may not have broken all of her. That she was still there. That she would survive this. The rest was a feeling, clutching his heart, a feeling his life had never prepared him for. A feeling that promised him a never-ending sense of lacking and craving. _Loss._

Rebekah left the top of the stair case to return to her room, before Nik would notice her. She quietly started to unpack the bags she had just finished packing. The exchange she just had witnessed may have only lasted two seconds in real life, but her brother´s actions had already cost him enough to last his life time. So she´d stay. For now.

As Caroline entered the Boarding house she thought herself back to her old room. She thought of the sensation the rediscovery of that drawing had given her. A sense of having failed herself. For, she had believed that maybe, just maybe, there was one good ounce to Klaus Mikaelson, albeit just for a second. It contained a choice that was to be made. It may have started out as small town world vs. big world. Ultimately the only thing she had to choose was herself, though. And she finally did. After that she had left a note for her mom. _I´ll come back home. I promise._

When she entered the boarding house, she found Damon, drinking his whiskey. "Ah, finally. Look blondie, I know you´re totally screwed up right now with all the stuff the big bad wolf has put you through while you were knocked out, but there is still a vampire killing history teacher out there, and it´s night time. So please, tell me what on Earth would make you do something as dumb as taking a nightly stroll?"

She silently, but quickly snatched his glass and gulped it all down. "Damon. you´re an ass. A ass that owes me big time. And I need your help. And before you say anything containing either a really dumb blonde joke or some lame comeback hidden by a snarky exterior, you should be aware that I am demanding your goddamn help. You. Owe. Me."

"Okay, Blondie. Enough of that..."

And just like that she had him pinned against a wall, only to then take a timid but strong step back. "I told you, no blonde jokes. " she said, not meeting his eyes, He was confused as to why she so suddenly broke the physical contact to him. Like she recoiled from him.

"Sit down." she said. He gave her a pointed look. " Do you want to know what happened in Chicago, or don´t you?" she asked. "Because if you do, I suggest you pour us two more drinks and sit down."

And so she told him, too. When she was done, he found that he had broken his glass in his palm, and his healing hand was trying to push out the tiny shreds. Blood was dripping onto the floor.

For a while, they were silent as well. A sarcastic voice inside Caroline´s head, could not help but to ponder about everyone´s apparent need for silent. She had started to learn that this type of silence was the equivalent to someone slowly ripping a band-aid off instead of just tearing it off in one move by risking to say something dumb. But still, she understood. No one wanted to risk making this worse. Like there was really a worse. Though probably, there would always be a worse.

"So. What do you want me to do?" Damon finally asked.

"I need you to talk to me."

"About what? I am not really good at this girl- talk stuff. And I am not therapist material either, so... I really think..."

"Tell me about the time you fed off me and compelled me." She interrupted, looking him in the eyes with a hopeful but slightly tough plea.

And then it dawned on Damon, where he fit into her equation. She chose him to talk. Because she thought he was the Coke light version of Klaus, in a universe where the hybrid equaled whiskey. A monster that was just slightly less scary than the monster she had recently dealt with. And as he stared into the blue eyes of that young girl, that needed him to answer her darkest questions, he finally felt guilt, real guilt, about it all.

**Author´s note**

**Okay, I am not completely happen with this chapter, though I tried my best. It´s just tough getting the story back to Mystic Falls after the events in Chicago. I hope no one feels too let down. **

**Thanks. **


	16. My heart is already crippled

Damon Salvatore had been plenty of things: the wild and uncontrollable vampire that had turned Vicky Donovan. The desperate lover that had forced vampire blood down Elena´s throat. The ever loyal brother that refused to give up on Stefan. The crazy guy that had dared to interfere with most of the Original family on numerous occasions. There was an endless list of things he had been and he would prefer all of them to haunt him now, instead of the memory of him compelling a human Caroline Forbes.

Maybe if he didn´t know what Klaus nearly did in his dream to her, it would be easier, though even so it probably would still be awkward. However now, it was much worse. Now that he knew about Klaus.

As Damon went into the boardhouse´s basement, he wondered how long they could be doing this before someone else would know. Her insisting on secrecy was ridiculous. But understandable too.

When he entered the basement, he found her, waiting for him.

"So how are we going to do this?" She asked, finishing a text to Tyler, Damon presumed.

"Are you sure about this, blon .. Caroline?" He would need time to get used to not calling her that anymore. A lot of time.

"Yup, so bring it on." she said, getting up from the bed. She had not been sleeping down there, they were only meeting there to exercise.

"Okay, I have two humans upstairs. I´ll bring them down. I´ll cut their wrists, and you will try not to feed from them and remain calm. If all goes well, you can go back to decade dance planning and cheerleading by the end of the night." Damon reiterated sarcastically.

"What if I lash out?" she asked worriedly.

"I´ll either snap your neck or at least pry you off them, whatever seems to be more entertaining at the moment." She said, though they both knew, he´d never snap her neck. Now, he cared.

"Okay." Caroline gulped nervously, With that, Damon left.

"Damon?" Caroline called after him. "Do you really think I might be back in control by the end of the day?" she asked, hope in her voice.

" Well, no, but then again. I did not think you´d make it past your first month as a vampire, and I was wrong there, so odds are, me not believing that you can make it will mean that you´ll be back to normal - bubbly, blonde and annoying - sooner than later. Plus, I saw something about positive reinforcement in a documentary on the discovery channel when I was drunk. So I thought I´d give it a try." He joked. Then he was gone.

He came back with two teenagers, each of them having a cut wrist. The blood filled the air immediately.

He hadn´t planned on doing it this way. Not so long ago, he had simply wanted to ride into the sunset with his Doppelganger, wanting nothing more but to snatch a few pints of blood every now and then in order to create an army to rule the world with. Then a call had come, and the only other thing he had wanted to obtain at some point in his future - Caroline´s loyalty - had been at risk, so he had to turn around, and go back to Mystic Falls. Where he had saved Caroline.

_She was stuck to a desk, pencils driven into her hand. A part of him could not help but compliment the teacher on his creativity, but mostly he just wanted to save her. He had already smelled the vervain in the hall way, and now he saw the burns on her beautiful face and he could tell that some of must have gone down her throat, as well. He could tell she was weakened. In a flash, he crossed the distance between the class room door and her seat, appearing in front of her. Slowly, her eyes met his, although looking up at him surely had been exhausting to her in that moment. _

_For a split second, she was unsure if his presence meant anything good or bad, he could tell, but when he soothingly put his hands onto her neck, playing with her curls, while shushing her with his other hand onto her mouth, just to make sure she would not lure the teacher back, she relaxed, oddly enough. _

_"You´re safe" he had whispered. "I´ll take you home, once you´re there, stay inside. And then we´ll save Elena." His hands only leaving the softness of her face after she had nodded in understanding. _

_Gently he removed the vervain-soaked gag, suppressing any sign of fury, but boiling beneath his calm surface. He took in her fearful eyes, and as he looked down at her staked hands, he knew. It was her kind nature that would always let her fall prey to others. In between the car ride with Elena and getting there, he had learned that the only reason she got stuck with Alaric, was her saving his sister. She only got bitten by Tyler, because she could not just cast him out after getting sired. From what he recalled about the sacrifice, even his witches had an easy time capturing her for she was focusing on Tyler´s emotional needs instead of her own. So kind, so sweet, so breakable. Sooner or later someone will seriously damage her, was all her thought. _

_Slowly he crouched down to her level. "Hold your breath, sweetheart." he coed into her ear. His eyes were locked with hers as he drew out both pencils at once in a swift movement. She suppressed a scream. For a second neither spoke, then she slowly tried to stand, however, due to all that vervain, her knees buckled. He caught her, though. And he relished the unanticipated closeness to her body. She looked up at him once more as she stead herself against his chest. "Thank you." And for a second, he knew she was trusting him completely. In that moment she saw no monster, but a person. A person whom it was safe to be around._

_She lost consciousness less than a breath after. As he was about to speed her out of that school, back to her home, he heard Elena. And once again, it all changed._

_Elena was distracting Alaric, she talked to him. She tried to reason. Normally, Klaus would have intervened, but he knew that Alaric would never harm an innocent human. Caroline, on the other hand, would not be so lucky. His attention was caught by his Doppelganger holding a knife up to her own throat and saying something about "She only gave you one life time to complete your task." Seeing the concerned expression in Alaric´s face, he quickly connected the dots in his mind. Their lives were tied to each other. _

_This piece of news did not faze him in that moment, for the Bennett witch was about to put a desiccation spell on this hunter anyway. And just as he thought about that, Alaric Saltzman collapsed onto the floor, greying slowly. He choked for what seemed like minutes, the Doppelganger crouched down to comfort her former friend. He was about to die. Only... he didn´t. Suddenly he was back up, the color slowly returned to his face, and Klaus knew what had happened. The witch had failed. She was incapable of performing the spell. Incapable of removing the biggest threat to his and his family´s existence, including the existence of EVERY vampire on Earth. So... there would be only one other way. _

_The Doppelganger had to die. _

_He wasn´t ready to give up on his hybrid army just yet, but he was not ready to abandon two dreams in one day either. Alaric had sped away, dreading another attempt at his life. Elena turned around to see him holding Caroline. He gave her a reassuring nod, indicating that he would be bringing her home now, just like they had agreed on. He had lied without even saying a word._

_Instead, he brought her home to the only place where he knew they´d both be safe._

Now his plans were different. He should have gotten Caroline home that day, if he had, she´d maybe still think of him as a safe place to be. And the hunter was still out there. It was all too much, dealing with this type of loss for the first time ever and fighting off Alaric, it could not both happen at the same time.

With dark resolve he looked down at the sleeping Doppelganger, as a compelled nurse prepared everything for her blood to be taken.

Slowly the girl was waking up. When she felt the needle, she groaned. "Ah, be careful. Moving only makes it hurt more." The nurse explained.

"What are you doing?"

"Draining you for all your blood." Klaus explained from the couch, in a slow, gloomy voice. They were interrupted by two of his hybrids, dragging a thrashing Tyler into the room.

"We found him, trying to break in." One of them explained. Briefly there was a smirk on Klaus´ face, but it quickly faded. "Let him go and leave." He told them. They obeyed.

Tyler was confused. He had followed Klaus, after coincidentally witnessing him kidnapping Elena from the girl. It had all been by accident. He knew, Caroline would have wanted to call for help , which he had, and to stay behind. But his anger had gotten the best of him, seeing this opportunity to finally beat the crap out of Klaus. So he had followed, but gotten discovered by a couple of hybrids. He had expected a lot, but not to find Elena tied to a chair, blood being taken from her arm.

"Elena?"

"Tyler! Help me!" His first reaction was to run to her.

"He can´t." Klaus said calmly. "If he does, his girlfriend will suffer the consequences." It was bluff, but he didn´t think Tyler would call it. Not anymore.

"Instead, he needs to go fetch me more empty blood bags. About three liters worth, please, Tyler." He added quickly and calmly, in a gloomy tone. Finally, he accepted that games were his second nature. And he was wondering, whom would her stupid mutt choose now? Her life and his selfish needs or her wishes and her best friend.

Tyler was still processing Klaus´ words, when he heard Elena´s voice. "Tyler, please. Get Stefan." If he would help her, that sick bastard would take it out on Caroline, but he had promised Caroline to be on her side. Even if it meant doing things that jeopardize her. But that was before. Before Chicago. It is hard to choose if both choices are wrong.

"You´re sick." he let out.

"Now. Tyler. Get the bags." Klaus inserted. Tyler had already chosen wrong in a game like that once, he´d do it again.

Finally, Tyler could again breath calmly. For a second, even Klaus was wondering what the hybrid would do. After a moment´s hesitation, he went for Elena, but Klaus was faster.

"Forget the girl and get the bags." he repeated. "Now. Or I´ll get Caroline." It was the first time he himself had spoken her name. He regretted using it for such a dirty bluff, but he would not back down. Not to Tyler.

After that, Tyler went to fetch the bags, leaving Elena to struggle against the ropes that tied her to that chair. Klaus came up behind her, resting his hands on the back of her chair.

"So that´s it? You´re just gonna bleed me dry?"

"Yes. But don´t worry. It´ll be completely painless. " He leaned to whisper into her ear. "As the last drop is drawn, you´ll simply fall asleep."

His voice sent shivers along her spine. And realization set in. This could really be the end for her.

It had taken half the day. She had repeatedly tried to kill of the two people Damon had compelled to assist in her training. Damon had knocked her against a brick wall each time. Finally, after hours and hours, she had managed to stay away, focusing onto her breathing instead.

Sensing the improvement in her self-control, Damon had let her by the arm, taking her a couple of steps closer. The smell immediately caused for her fangs to show. She started to thrash in his hold, and nearly got to the two kids, when she heard him speak.

"No, you can do better than that." That was all. She continued to fight him, but then finally, something inside her snapped. And then she did it again. She retracted her fangs. For real this time. Damon had never seen anything like it. But he was sure, if Tyler was around, he would confirm that it bears similarities to a wolf forced to turn at the full moon. It looked painful. But the fangs disappeared.

Mesmerized, he guided her towards the wrist of one of the two humans. She inhaled, taking in the magnificent scent. She started to shiver uncontrollably, her fangs threatening to come back out, but ultimately, she thought of her list of goals in her jeans pocket. Of Tyler. Of her mom. Ultimately, she managed to regain her composure.

When he was sure that she would not break down again, he guided her back to the field back in the cellar. Then he brought the two human guinea pigs back to where her found them. He came back with Stefan in tow.

"You did it." was all, Stefan said.

After a minute, she looked up. And slowly a smile formed on her sad face. " I did, didn´t I?"

"Sure, now, it´s time for the final rehearsal?" Damon said, causing Caroline to frown. What rehearsal? That had never been part of the deal.

...

"What about your hybrids? You´ll need more than this to create your army." Elena tried to argue, weakly, feeling the blood loss taking its toll on her. As the nurse finished exchanging a full bag with an empty one, she walked past Klaus, who grabbed the full bag from her in anger. It was not supposed to be that way. Not two abandoned dreams in one day.

Calming himself, he slowly said. "These last few liters will have to suffice. You see, by attempting to kill us, my mother strengthened the bond between my siblings and I. I don´t need hybrids. I have my family." He said with a smile. He had recalled the past evening, when Rebekah had finally spoken to him.

_He´d been painting. Painting HER again. When Rebekah had entered, he said. "You´re here to say your farewells, sister?" He knew, she wanted to leave now, too. Caroline was lost, his family would be next. He got no answer though, only felt his sister stare at him for what felt like an eternity._

_"Just so we´re clear. Don´t ever use me that way again." She told him in her most snobbish voice. _

_He had looked up in surprise, and her eyes told him all. He´d be forgiven. Once more. In the hopes of this better being the final time, too. She´d stand by him. It was her last stand for him. _

_He gave her a quick, thankful nod before his face became stoic again. Apparently there was still one thing he could save. _

His smile grew wider, as he recalled what finally made him decide on killing Elena. He did have something worth protecting, worth sacrificing for, in his corner. And this one thing he would not lose as well.

"If you believe that, then why take my blood at all?" Elena breathed out. "You want a back-up family. You know that your siblings well never trust you again." _She might be right, at least for the moment. But he could re-earn their trust. And even when they did not trust him, they were still loyal._

In want for revenge, he approached Elena. "You know, Stefan blames me for trying to tear him from his brother. But I think we both know who really came between them. You." he said in all simplicity. "That´s why you won´t choose. You know once you pick a Salvatore, you´ll destroy that bond." In a flash he was in her face.

"Consider this, me doing you a favor" he said, causing her to gasp. "Once you´re dead, you won´t have to choose. No broken hearts. Their family stays intact." A mean smile entered his face. "But just between us girls, whom would you have picked?"

Elena assembled all her anger "Rot in hell." Klaus looked at her once more. Images of Caroline in front of his eyes. Elena was not quite as defiant, not quite as stubborn, but in that moment, he caught a slight resemblance in spirit. "Hm. You´re welcome."

As Elena Gilbert was starting to drift away, he spit out his goodbyes. "Sweet dreams, Elena. It´s been fun." And a huge part of him felt indeed relieve that he would no longer have to bother with this tiresome girl.

...

The car stopped in front of her old house. "Damon, Stefan, what are we doing here?"

"Relax, Caroline, consider this a final test." Damon said, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

"What.. no... guys. NO!" Caroline protested, but Stefan had already grabbed her and rushed her to her front door.

Liz Forbes opened immediately.

"Honey." she said, with a happy, sad smile on her face.

"No Mom, please go back inside." Caroline said, feeling the rush in her veins. "Stefan, let me go." She wriggled in his grip on both of her arms.

Stefan felt bad for forcing this confrontation upon her, but it was the only way. He understood why she had chosen Damon, to help her train in a locked up dungeon, however he knew that exercises in safe water would never tell the truth. So Stefan had decided to do this. He owed her. He would always owe her even if this works out the way he is sure it would. Caroline needed to believe in herself again. So he´d put her to the ultimate test.

"Care, it´ll be alright."

"No, it´s not safe." she struggled, fear creeping up along with that growing feeling in her gums.

"Caroline, I promise you, you´ll be fine." Her mom said, taking a step towards her daughter.

Panic grew insider of Caroline, and that was all it took. In a flash her eyes were red and her fangs were out, causing her mother to turn away in shock an fear, facing the door frame instead.

"I am sorry." Caroline sobbed repeatedly. "so so sorry." Her knees almost gave out, in the face of the monster she thought she had become.

Liz Forbes felt like having a heart attack. This was real, her daughter was not just a good vampire anymore, she was a real vampire now. And she was lost. As she tried to stabilize her breathing, she heard her sobs. The sobs of a girl fighting herself. The sobs of a girl that spent most of her human life trying to be better and good and perfect, chasing after something that Liz Forbes never believe was there. Finally, she realized, her daughter had chased after acceptance. Hers.

With one more breath, she turned and looked at Caroline. Her eyes still read, her fangs out, her veins popping, tears all over her cheeks. She did not move in superhuman speed, but in a milisecond she had her arms around her daughter. "Oh honey..."

Caroline weakly thought against the embrace, trying to contain her hunger. "Ssh... it´ll be alright. I love you. It´s all going to be okay." she said in a soothing voice.

Stefan had let go of Caroline, the second her mom had stepped up. So nothing could stop her knees from giving in, as she sobbingly slid to the grow, once more forcing her fangs to retract, her mom, holding her. Both of them cried for hours. And finally, Caroline was home again.

After a while, Stefan spoke up quietly. "See, we told you, you´ll be fine. Just to make sure, I´ll be crashing on your couch tonight, but I think you´ll be fit to move back home."

Caroline continued sobbing as her mom looked up at the vampires in front of her, silently mouthing her Thank You.

...

Rebekah had been driving. She didn´t know why, Nik had only told her to drive. By the time she´d return, it would all be safe again, he had promised. She thought back to the previous night, her decision to forgive him still draining her energy. She could have been friend with Caroline Forbes. She could have had a friend.

With a sigh, she continued driving.

...

Damon and Stefan had gone out, to give them space. To give Caroline some alone time. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her mom, when she read the text.

"My brother is up to something. R."

Caroline looked up at her mom and a dark feeling came upon her.

"Mom, I gotta go." she said, as she made for the door.

"Caroline, you just came back." her mom called.

Caroline stopped in her tracks. "I know, and I promise, I´ll be back. But I got to take care of this." Then she was gone.

...


	17. Because you re closing down my veins

Elena was struggling against her restraints, literally struggling to keep her life from draining out of her body. Sobs escaped her throats, as her weak attempts proved more and more futile. As she glimpsed at the bag being filled with her blood she closed her eyes. Thinking that this is not how death should be. Aren´t you supposed to die as in death being only a moment instead of in a slow, frustrating process? She could barely even think at this point.

Then Tyler came back, quickly untying the ropes behind her chair. When he progressed to releasing her arms, she tiredly asked "What are you doing?"

"Sssh" he responded, hurriedly. When he was finished with her bonds, he heard her utter his name, her eyes darting past his head, to someone behind them. He turned around to find Klaus standing there.

Klaus hadn´t expected that move from Tyler. Not with him having gone so far as to threaten Caroline. The anger in him doubled, at the thought of this guy potentially putting Caroline at risk while trying to get in his way.

Tyler slowly got up, not taking his eyes of Klaus. The knowledge that the sire bond had been broken months ago gave him an odd sense of security.

"So much for your bond to Caroline. " he barked. Tyler´s eyes grew mad at that, but her tried to maintain a calm posture nonetheless, and Klaus loved to toy with that. He didn´t move, just glared at his Doppelganger and the mutt. "Well mate, I am almost as disappointed in you risking her life over the Doppelgangers, than I am disappointed in our cozy sire bond. That was quite the let down." he let out darkly.

" I am not your little bitch anymore." Tyler had been aching to tell that into his face, it felt good. He knew he had to keep his head clear, that the situation was dangerous. But it felt good, to get that out of his system.

Klaus only smiled at that with evil glee before reverting his face back to menacing determination, as he walked towards Elena and Tyler.

"How did you break the sire bond?".

"By breaking every bone in my body a hundred times for the girl I love". Tyler answered, straight, without rethinking the answer. That is why he was here today, as well. It was all about Caroline.

Klaus´s gaze was straight on. "That´s impossible." he whispered. He had assumed the Bennett witch had found something to help him in her grimoire, but he never had he anticipated that his hybrids can break the bond through will power. Leave alone that the never expected that out of all of them Tyler would be the one to do it. What irked him even more was that the mutt´s actions had strengthened his bond to Caroline, whereas his own had been weakened. He would probably never even get a chance to prove himself to her like Tyler got to.

"Is it? Or maybe real love is stronger than fake loyalty". Tyler countered, walking towards Klaus, and effectively putting himself between him and Elena. His words hit a mark they maybe were never quite expected to hit.

They described Klaus´ entire Dilemma, his tendency to force loyalty and relationships while expecting it to be the real deal. His longing for something honest. His yearning for Caroline. "But what would you know about that?" Tyler added. Klaus thoughts were circling around Caroline and the broken hope in her face. His thoughts wrapped around the idea of him touching her in that way in which he had. His thoughts fueled by the desire to keep her safe.

"You know you should be thanking me." Klaus answered causing Tyler to furrow his brows in confusion. "I gave you a gift. I took away your misery."

"You didn´t give a crap about me." Tyler yelled. "You just didn´t want to be alone" With that he moved to help Elena up, who at this point was barely able to stand.

Klaus chose this moment to spend in, which caused Elena to triple over in her chair and to hit her head on the cupboard behind her. He would never allow Tyler to leave with her, too.

In a flash, he had him by the throat moving his arm to rip his heart out. "Goodbye Tyler." Only, his hand never made contact with Tyler´s chest. He felt a soft touch holding it back.

"Drop him" Caroline yelled. And out of the pure shock of seeing her, he did.

"Caroline." Tyler let out, surprised at her presence.

Swiftly she moved past Klaus, and crouched down to Tyler. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Get out of here". Tyler returned.

Klaus universe briefly came to a halt. The creature he had presumed to never encounter ever again, was right in front of him. Still fragile, still hurt, but somehow still strong and beautiful. As he observed her worriedly touching Tyler´s cheek, anger rose inside of him. Anger at the awkwardness he felt around her. Like knowing she´d never believe in his care for her, he´d be eternally forced to wear his evil side around her like mask. Like he had the choice between either being weak around her or to be the monster he never meant to show her. Just so he´d get to watch this mutt receive all her affection. The entire image in his head screamed at this seeming injustice. How did he manage to force himself to never be himself around the person he fell for because she was always herself around him? His inner turmoil forced him back into a mask of indifference quickly.

"What a lovely surprise, Caroline." He said menacingly. She had already seen the tourniquet and smelled the blood, she knew what Klaus was trying to do.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked bluntly, as she got up again.

"Nothing love, I am only trying to secure all our well-beings by killing the life the Hunter´s life has been tied to. Unfortunately this forces me to sacrifice my Doppelganger, but I am sure whatever blood she has left will suffice." He moved to tug a stray of hair behind herself, but as she held her breath and slightly squirmed away, his hand came to a halt. Awkwardness. He usually would just touch her as he pleased, but being so close to her skin, all he could picture was a pool table. And this burning question . _Why do you hate me? _He didn´t dare touch her now.

"You´re sick. No.. wait. I take that back. You´re damaged." she said, while Tyler slowly got up behind her. Her eye´s never left Klaus, he felt like a snake being watched, like she was waiting for him to lash out at her. " I am not going to let you do this." she said, and turned to help her friend. Klaus was in front of her , before she even had time to register.

"Yes, you are, love."

" What?" she mumbled, confused by his words.

"Remember that day at your front porch?" he asked. "You granted me a wish, love." he said, with a scary smile on his face. As realization started to spread over her face, she yelled. "You blackmailed me."

"Be that as it may, the deal was clear. Tyler´s life for a wish granted."

"So you want me to let my best friend die?" She looked at him, and for a second he felt like she was even more disappointed in him now than she had ever been before. Like he had subconsciously reached a new low he hadn´t found before. But he had to push her. Out of his way, into safety.

"Well, I am not totally cruel, I´ll give you to options. You can grant me either, love. Either, you leave now, and since I am generous you may take your mutt with you. Or..."

"Or what..." she whispered. He stood so close to her, but he still did not dare to even slightly touch her. She´d never know how reverent his feelings for her really were.

"You have a drink from my Doppelganger." He was addicted to pushing her, he realized that in the second he spoke those words. Part of him simply seemed incapable of leaving her in peace.

Caroline just stood there, frozen in the moment. If she left, she´d leave Elena at Klaus´ non-existent mercy, if she stayed, she´d have to feed off her before she ever got a chance to help her. If she did neither, Tyler would be dead. The thoughts insider head were spinning, she starting to feel dizzy.

"What will it be, love?" Klaus cooed, internally praying that she would opt for leaving the scene. Albeit with Tyler. He swiftly moved to Elena and exposed her neck.

"I am not drinking her blood." Caroline managed to utter.

"Fine, then I suggest you and Mr. Lockwood leave. Now." he said, nonchalantly dropping Elena.

Suddenly Caroline looked up at him, an unspoken plea in her eyes. A plea he saw and heard, but could not answer. He could not just let Elena live if it meant for the Hunter to live. He had to keep his family safe. Himself. And mostly, her.

A hand gently touched Caroline´s shoulder. "It´s alright, Care." She turned at the sound of Tyler´s calm voice. "Take Elena and get out of here."

At that, Klaus´ eyes darkened. Hesitantly, Caroline glanced back between both hybrids. "But, what about you?" she asked, looking up at him. His only response was him cupping her face and sighing.

"No. No. No. Tyler, I am not leaving you here with him."

"Listen to her boy, " Klaus commented. "It´s enough if you leave Elena behind."

"Care, you need to leave. With Elena. Get out of here and don´t turn back."

"No. This is crazy." Caroline said. "He´ll kill you."

"He´ll be away from you." Was all Tyler answered. Caroline tried to respond, but before she got the first syllable of his name out, he gently placed a finger onto her lips. "Go."

"So love, what happens next." Klaus said, mentally willing Caroline to grab Tyler and leave. Or at least to bite Elena. If she made one move to help her, he´d be forced to retaliate by killing Tyler. In front of her eyes.

Finally, she looked back to him. "I´ll leave. And Elena comes with me."

"As you wish." Klaus said in a sad smirk.

After that, things went out of control.

They say the most important moment of your life happens so fast, most people only get lucky enough to look back on it. As Klaus moved to rush at Tyler, he anticipated that Caroline would move away from them in order to get to Elena. However, she didn´t.

Neither man even saw her move, but when it was all over, Klaus looked ahead, to find her blue orbs meeting his, challenging him to move just one inch further. Fearing him for being so close. He also found that it was not Tyler´s chest, in which his hand was buried. It was hers.

Then he felt it. Slick blood was creasing his palm as it was wrapped around her heart. If his hand, if even one finger, were to slightly twitch, he´d end her. He knew, for he had done just that a hundred times as a threat as well as actual kills. Just like that, her heart was in his hands, and his alone, and she looked up at him in fear and acceptance. As she waited for him to kill her, he wondered if he could manage to let go of this heart without breaking it. Suddenly, he felt humbled. Suddenly, she they all held their breaths.

**Author´s note:  
So, no I am not happy with my writing today, so maybe, just maybe I´ll rewrite this chapter at some other point, but as for now, I don´t think I can do better. My apologies to those of you who feel let down by the writing tonight. I am truly sorry. **

**I know most of you have not been too happy with Tyler lately, and I am not sure if you feel any better about him now, but I did try to make people like him more. Personally, I believe that right now Tyler is maybe not the best boyfriend in the world, completely in over his head with the entire situation Caroline is facing, but he ´s the best she´s got. He means well, and I believe she knows that.**

**To those of you that were wondering: YES, I am planning on letting this story and Klaroline, right after Klaus has grown 5 inches emotionally and actually gained some maturity, so it´s going to be a long long ride. I am not going to be done with this story anytime soon, and I appreciate everyone that manages to bear with me. **

**Thanks to every reviewer, you guys really really helped me in my creative thinking. Thank you.**


	18. About that

**Don´t kill me, but I need you all to trust me. **

**It´s in the works. I swear it is. But I keep on tripping over the first lines. Everything I come up with is not right (tonewise, plotwise I am completely happy). **

**I haven´t updated in so long simply because apart from all of my other stories, life is .. life. But here are a few things I would like all of you to know.**

**A) This is an important message, so please don´t organize a lynching mob to have my head because this is an announcement instead of the long-over-due update. **

**B) I am on it. I am not promising a date, but the plot is there. It´s seriously the first 500 words that I´ve been redoing for the past months, never reaching my satisfaction. I mean, I ALWAYS doubt my stuff, but the first part is honestly not yet good enough to post. **

**C) In a more recent review it has been suggested that I should rewrite the entire chapter in terms of Klaus´actions. I have always considered a rewrite because at the time I felt the writing was off, but I stand by every single horrible thing Klaus has done so far. I really, and genuinely enjoyed that review (It´s nice to know people care enough about my general writing to suggest something so bold), but should there ever be a rewrite - unlikely but who knows - the chapter will stand end with Klaus´ hand wrapped around Caroline´s heart. In said review Klaus was considered to be beyond redemption, but guys ... look at the show... look at it. There is no "beyond redemption" if the character truly grows himself or herself a pair. The more my Klaus screws up, the longer he´ll take to be worthy of Caroline, but I have faith. In my ideas and in Klaus. Good thing that he´s going to get some coffin time on his own pretty soon. Gives him time to think. And the growth lots of you have been dying to see on his part, it´ll come. In pieces. And crumbs. **

**D) I might sometimes literally take months and years - full-time student, 6-7 stories (new ideas keep on hounding me daily) on and a part-time job, and that´s just the routine part of my life right now - but none of them, not even "I chose your pain" have been abandoned. **

**E) Caroline will stop being the martyr. But mostly, keeping a promise she previously made to Klaus and deal with blood issues. **

**F) I know this is a Klaroline fic (meaning they are endgame - good thing the end is far off yet, right?), but try to give Tyler a chance. I blame my poor writing skills if I did not succeed in delivering one point. Tyler is currently Caroline´s best option. He may not be the option we´re all seeing at the end of this, but just because Klaus is currently displaying the maturity of a 14-year old hybrid, doesn´t mean Caroline has to go through all the pain and all the beautiful things life has to offer all on her own. She deserves to love someone who loves her back, even if it´s just for a period of time. Tyler is trying to do right, and if any of you feel like he´s a douche... blame me, I messed up writing him. **

**G) SPOILER ALERT BIG TIME: **

**.**

**.**

**. ^^**

**So ... the next chapter/s will have a coffin-time out for an over-agitated hybrid aka lots of Klaus thoughts. An attempt on my part at a deep conversation between Tyler and Caroline, Elena dying (yes, with a few exceptions I`ll ALWAYS stick to the cannon... so there we go, like it or not, Elena will die at the hands of Rebekah and wake up being a vampire). - oh, and the body switch... Personally, I am kind of psyched that Caroline wound up killing those 12 witches... perfectly matches how she killed Gloria in my story, meaning: Julie Plec just gave me a silver opportunity for Caroline to ponder over Gloria´s death and about black and white and grey zones. **

**Do you guys have any remote idea of how much Silas will have torturing Klaus with all of those nasty things that have happened between him and Caroline so far? As for Klaus´ redemption... lots of non-canon moments in the works PLUS the canon moments. Oh... and Elena sans humanity... honestly, putting myself on hiatus due to creative differences with my own writing might pay off well.**

**So anyway, enough of that... I just really urge and beg you all, be patient (not just with this story, if you have questions concerning the other stories, send me a pm and you can get as many spoilers as you feel like asking for) ... I am honestly working on it. **


End file.
